Surviving Hell
by Zombiehugger
Summary: A retelling of the escape of the eight survivors through the setting of the Outbreak games, spanning both file one and two. The last chapter is now up. Thank you all for reading!
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: I will have the next Chapter up by the beginning of next week (sometime on October 3). I wish I could update you guys more often, but I post these up earlier on my deviantart if you guys really want them earlier. I do periodic updates on there because it's easier. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this rewrite I did of the first chapter while I finish the next chapter.

The night was cool and dark, a soft breeze had been blowing for about an hour, and a solitary street lamp gave the only light in the area. George looked up at the stars that were still visible, and wished once more for everything to end. Nothing worked ever since that night with his wife—no, his ex-wife. He couldn't think straight, he couldn't function at work, and he'd lost two patients on the operating table to simple mistakes.

_Number one surgeon in Raccoon City my ass,_ George thought. He blamed himself for why Sharon left him. It _was_ mostly his fault; had he not been so focused on the hospital, staying late nights, going in early, and remaining on call at all hours of the day, then maybe Sharon and he could have worked out their problems. George started to feel the self-loathing creeping back into his mind, and so he shoved thoughts of Sharon away and focused on where he was going.

It was still relatively early, eight o'clock by his watch, and since he—with the help of the chief of medicine— decided to take some sick leave he didn't have to go to work the next day. Therefore, as George walked into the hospital parking lot, for the first time in a while, George didn't know what to do. He could go home and relax, or, the more appealing of the two, he could go and get drunk somewhere.

George reached into his pocket and took out a quarter. Sometimes these decisions were better left to fate. He flicked the quarter in the air, caught it, and slapped it down on his hand.

Jay's bar was noisy, but George didn't care. He sipped his scotch, and twirled the glass around in front of his face. The ice cubes chased each other in their prison of glass; he felt a sympathetic connection with them, their prison was glass, and his was depression. He took another sip and smiled at the warmth he felt.

The waitress skirted passed him with a tray balanced delicately on her palm. She smiled and stopped to place another scotch next to him. "This one is on the house."

"Really? Thank you." George said.

"You look like you could use it, and please don't tell Will because he doesn't know." She put her tray down on the bar and patted him softly on the shoulder.

"Thanks, I guess I could use it, and my lips are sealed." George nodded and drained the rest of the mostly empty glass in his hand.

"I have to get back to work, but I hope whatever's got you down goes away." She said, picking her tray back up, and walking toward the large windows at the front of the bar where a woman was typing furiously on a laptop.

George watched her make her rounds in the mirror behind the bar; she placed a drink next to the woman, talked to her for a little while, and moved around the room checking on the other patrons. By the time she made it to half of the customers, the bartender; Will, George remembered the waitress saying; walked up to him and leaned on the bar.

"I'm going to go to step out for a minute, so is there anything you need before I go?"

George held up the full glass of scotch. "No, thank you, the waitress has already seen to me."

"That figures, Cindy's always doing things before I can, I swear that girl can read my mind." Will laughed, and moved down the bar to recite the same speech to a police officer. The officer tapped his glass, and Will reached under the bar and took out a bottle half-full of an amber colored liquor. He refilled the officer's glass and tapped the bottle to the rim of the glass.

The bell above the entrance dinged and George turned to where a man stood. He was slumped over, his long hair dangled down below the neck line of his tattered denim jacket. He stumbled into the bar, leaving the door open.

"Hey now, you look like you've had plenty already, we don't serve drunk customers here." Will called from behind the bar. He placed the bottle of liquor down and walked around the bar. "God this guy's drunk. Hey, I'll call you a cab, but you can't drink anything here."

"Will, I don't like the look of him, why don't you just call the police?" Cindy suggested. She turned to the officer at the bar. "Can you do something?"

"I'm off duty, and my radio's in the car, but I'll put a call in when I leave." He said before sipping his drink.

"What happens when he hurts someone?" Cindy asked.

He shrugged.

"Cindy, relax, I've thrown out drunks before." Will said as he approached the man. "Hey, can you hear me?"

The man took a step toward Will and stopped. Will stepped closer; he was within arm's distance now. He reached out and took the man's shoulders in his hands. The man looked at Will's hand and then looked up at Will. The attack happened faster than anyone was prepared for. The man reached out and wrapped himself around Will and bit into his neck.

Will screamed and pushed the man through the open door. He slammed the door shut and threw the bolt into place. "Did he just…?"

Cindy dropped her tray and ran over to Will as he slumped down along the door, leaving a trail of blood. "Will! Oh God, Will, I told you…I told you."

"He's crazy; I can't believe he did that." Will whispered, but it was quiet enough in the bar to hear. He turned to Cindy. "Did you see him?"

"I saw him Will." Cindy took Will's hand away from his neck. "We need to get you to a hospital," she turned to the patrons. "Does anyone know where the nearest hospital is?"

George stood up from his stool. "It's about three miles down the road; he won't make it if we don't stop the bleeding first. Get me a towel, some rubbing alcohol and any antibiotics you people have. I don't care if it's only Neosporin." George crossed the room to where Will sat. He gently pushed Cindy to the side. "Please, get whatever you can."

Cindy gave Will's shoulder a squeeze and went to gather the supplies. She began to ask the other customers for any medication they had on them. A man in brown overalls handed George a clean towel. George thanked him and put the towel on Will's neck. The towel held the blood at bay for a few seconds, but soon the blood began to leak through.

"I need another towel." George screamed over his shoulder. He pushed down harder; Will's blood seeped through his fingers. "Come on!"

The wound shouldn't have been bleeding this much, it must have missed the aorta be inches, but the blood kept coming. Will's breathing became labored. He was getting pale, his brow was dotted with beads of sweat, his whole body began to shake, and then, the blood just stopped. George didn't notice at first because the blood had gotten everywhere, but when he realized, he removed the towel, and saw that the wound was already clotting.

"What the hell?" George leaned forward. Crusted blood covered the lip of the wound, and rapidly spread out over the rest of the exposed area. The dark red scab turned pus-colored yellow, then brown, and finally black. With the edge of the whole wound covered in a blackened scab, Will's breathing stopped. "My God."

"Oh shit!" Someone yelled. George looked up; people surrounded the outside of the bar, they tapped blood-covered hands on the windows, smashed their heads against them, and…moaned. George stood up. Cindy came back to him with the materials he had asked for. She pushed them into his arms.

"What are you doing? Help him!"

George didn't hear her. What was going on?


	2. Chapter 2

Will's outstretched arms reached for George, his mouth cocked to the side, drool leaking onto the floor. George backed away quickly and bumped into a table, glass shattered on the ground as two glasses hit the floor. Without a moment's hesitation, George took the now empty table and used it against Will. The small table wasn't very heavy but George swung it anyway. The corner of the table caught Will in the left temple. A few splatters of the remaining blood painted the floor, mixing in with the alcohol. Will's body collapsed like a tent.

Momentarily Will's body lay there motionless, but soon he began to crawl towards George relentlessly. George let out a cry and pounded the creature over-and-over. After a few minutes George stopped whacking Will's body, the table was destroyed and the only thing left of Will was a mush of brain matter and black goo.

Suddenly, George realized that he wasn't alone. Seven faces stared at him; their eyes not moving shocked at what he had just done.

"It was going to…" George was too tired to explain himself and so he just dropped the broken wooden stake that used to be the table.

"We know." A blond woman said as she stepped passed George to the bar where she poured a glass of bourbon and downed it in a single gulp. The police officer looked just as shocked as everyone else did, but he sobered up quickly.

"Okay, here's what we have to do, we need to fortify this room and try and find an escape route." He still sounded a bit intoxicated, but he was doing a good job at covering it up.

"Escape to where man, out there, with _them_?" It was a lanky black man with platinum blond hair. He stood up from the barrel table he was sitting at. "Look, we should just like barricade the windows and something and wait for the cops. You of all people should know that. Can't you get on a radio or something?"

"I would if I was still on duty with my radio, but seeing as how I'm _here_ drinking with the rest of you, I can't do that now can I? It's not like I thought 'Oh, hey there might be a friggin' zombie outbreak, let me bring this'." The officer ran his hand through his hair and shot the other man a look.

"Maybe you should have." At this, the officer stood up and began stomping over to the man in the blue jacket.

"Whoa!" A portly security guard got in the officer's way. "Now, look here. We can't jus' go and kill ourselves now can we? You want to make it easier on those things, soldier?" He held his hand on the officer's chest.

"Whatever", The officer looked around, and then looked back at the security guard. "Help me with those barrels? We need to buy as much time as possible; we can push them in front of the door."

"Alright, tha's more like it." He got behind one of the barrels and started to push it, soon after there were two barrels blocking the doorway, rumbling each time one of the creatures hit the door.

"Alright, uh now that we have time, we should find that way out. Um…" The officer looked at the waitress' nametag. "Cindy, is there any way out of here?"

She hesitated, still looking at Will. "Y…yeah, through the back door there, the key's right here." She picked a key off the counter and handed it to the police officer.

"Thanks, I'm Kevin by the way." Kevin smiled at Cindy as he ran for the door with the other six following. As they reached the door, one of the bathroom doors opened up and a petite, young, Asian girl. Kevin finished unlocking the door and motioned for everyone to follow. George was the last through the door.

"Uh, excuse me, what's going on?" The Asian girl asked George.

"We're not too sure, but it seems that people are just attacking each other, then getting up and doing the same to others. It looks like some sort of disease or something." George said as they walked side-by-side in the small stairwell. "Come on, let's hurry up."

Up ahead, almost everyone was upstairs, except George, Cindy and the other girl. When Cindy walked by a small window at the top of the stairs, the glass shattered, sending shards all over the floor. Rotting hands reached out and took hold of Cindy's shoulders.

"Help!" Cindy shouted as George raced up the stairs. The hands were trying to pull her out of the window, but George wouldn't let that happen. He wrenched the hands off Cindy's shirt and shoved the rotting corpse back away from the window. Cindy stumbled forward a bit, trying to catch her breath. "Th…thanks."

"Don't mention it; I'm George by the way." George held out his hand to Cindy who took it. He helped her back up and continued up the stairs.

"Oh, I'm Yoko." Yoko said as they reached the second landing.

"I'd say nice to meet you, but in the current circumstances it's probably not a good time for formalities." George said as they passed through an opening that led to a hallway in the employee's lounge. The man, who had helped George with the body, was standing by with a nail gun and some planks. George finally noticed that his nametag read David.

David pushed past them with the planks, to the opening that they had just walked through. He busied himself with setting them up. "We've got to do whatever we can to slow them down." His scratchy voice was just loud enough to be audible over the nail gun.

"Everyone's here right?" Kevin asked the group as he stood in a little clearing near a desk full of supplies. All of the people in the room took note of everyone else and nodded when they saw the people they remembered. "Okay, good uh..." Kevin pointed to the security guard.

"Mark, pleasure to meet ya'." Mark waved.

"Good, Mark do you have a gun or something?"

"Yeah, but I don't have any ammo but what's in mah clip." Mark pulled out his pistol and showed it to Kevin.

"Right, I only have my .45…" Kevin trailed off, thinking about the situation. "Alright, uh…" Kevin pointed to the woman in a red business suit.

"Alyssa, and no I don't have a weapon." Alyssa sounded smug as she put her hands on her hips. "Are we going to go somewhere, or are we going to wait patiently for them to come and eat us?"

"First of all, Alyssa, I wasn't going to ask for a weapon, I wanted to know if you could _find_ some. Second, let's just get organized first, we'll die if we go out half-cocked." Kevin raised an eyebrow, waiting for a response, but Alyssa gave only a click of her tongue and went around gathering supplies. "Cindy, is there anything around here that we can use?"

"Well, I have a little herb case that my instructors gave me. I'm training to be a nurse you see." Cindy perked up at that last part, obviously proud about it.

"Uh…right, can you go and get that? George you're a doctor right?" George nodded. "Good, go with her will you?"

George followed Cindy into a locker room behind them in the hallway. Kevin was issuing out more orders and the man who had given him trouble before was protesting some job he was assigned. Cindy opened the door and walked up to her locker.

"So, you want to be a nurse then?" George thought it best to strike up some sort of conversation to take their minds off the panic that was encroaching on their minds from the crisis at hand.

"Yeah, it was always my dream, you know. Dad takes you for hikes and shows you some stuff, you get interested, and maybe you want to go and learn more, things like that. It just sort of stuck with me, and well after high school, I went to college for a bit, but got side tracked and ended up here. Well, a few years ago, I decided to go back and next year I'll be a registered nurse!"

He was almost happy for her, when he realized that next year might not come. George put on a brave face and smiled at Cindy's dreams. "Well, maybe I'll see you at the hospital then."

Cindy opened her locker and retrieved the small case she had spoken of to Kevin. Cindy frowned when she opened the case. "Oh, darn. I didn't fill it so I only have two of each."

"Two of each?" George asked as he walked over to Cindy and looked in the case. "Whoa! I haven't seen those in a long time, I used to work for a pharmaceutical company and make pills for them. With those, I might be able to make some for us if need be. If you find any more let me know."

Cindy smiled and nodded. Suddenly, they heard it the breaking of glass, the loud _crash_. They were inside the building now, everyone had to move. George's eyes widened and he ran for the door. Outside, David was still standing at the opening he had boarded up.

"They're coming up the stairs, we've got to move!" He screamed as he ran back into the hallway.

"Cindy, how do we get out of here?" George asked as David brushed passed him.

"Uh…that door, right there." Cindy pointed to the door opposite them. "It leads to the liquor room, where we can get to the roof and jump to the apartments next door. It's locked though."

"Not for long." Kevin said as he kicked the door near the doorknob. The door creaked but didn't move. He kicked repeatedly with similar results.

"Not to rain on your macho parade or anything, but the key's right here." Alyssa pulled up a newspaper on the coffee table and revealed a key with a blue tag on it. She took the key and unlocked the door, Kevin looked embarrassed, but didn't show it too much. The eight survivors piled into the stairwell and went into the liquor room with the hope of escape.


	3. Chapter 3

Cindy pushed open the door to the liquor room, walking in first. George was amazed at how large the room was, compared to the size of the building from the outside, George would have never imagined that the bar would have such a massive upper room. Without waiting, Cindy walked around the room, passing behind a corner. George went to follow, but Kevin pushed past and followed Cindy. Needing something to do to take his mind off the crisis at and, George went around looking to see if anyone was hurt.

"Is everyone okay?" George asked the group of scared individuals. No one spoke up, so he assumed everyone was fine. David was taking bottles of alcohol off the shelf and putting them on a table nearby.

"Don't you think that's a bit inappropriate?" It was Alyssa who spoke up. David shot her a glance, but didn't say anything until he had all of the bottles he wanted.

"I'm not here to drink them." David pulled out a few towels he had taken from the bar area and stuck them in the bottles. He turned the bottles over and soaked the towels. From his pocket, he fished out a lighter and showed it to Alyssa. "The more weapons we have the better."

Without a word, Alyssa nodded her consent, but she looked worried. David replaced the lighter in his pocket and handed Mark a bottle. Before he handed the other man, the one who had given Kevin trouble, a bottle he paused.

"What's your name?"

"Jim, man I don't want to use one of those things you never know when it might explode."

David stared at the man for a few seconds in disbelief. "It won't explode unless you light it."

Jim, suddenly realizing his mistake took the bottle and held it down to his side. Back from behind the corner, Cindy and Kevin came walking out. George turned around to see Kevin addressing everyone.

"Okay, it seems that we have a slight problem. The shutter to the roof is down and locked, only Will and Jay have the key." Kevin paused to listen to any suggestions.

"Well, there is another way, but it's a bit less conventional." Cindy pointed to the way behind her before continuing. "There's a forklift that we can use to climb across on the shelves over there. That leads to a little shaft. Now we would need to find the key to start the forklift."

"Can't we just climb onto the shelves?" George asked subconsciously.

"Theoretically, yes. However, they aren't bolted to the walls, so we'd have to be very careful. Our best bet would be to find that key. I'm not usually up here, but if I remember correctly, Jay keeps the key in his office. That's downstairs and in the back of the break room."

"You mean we'd have to go _back_ downstairs? With all of those things?" Jim's voice was unmistakable. This time though, George shared his concern. Those zombies or whatever they were; were already through the door to the bar, who knows if they made it through David's blockade. No one seemed to want to volunteer to get the key.

"In the back of the break room you said?" David looked at the bottle with the towel in it. "I'll get it."

"I'll go with you", George wasn't sure where this sudden courage came from, but he knew that they needed to get out of here."

"Alright, let's not waste anymore time." David put the bottle down and walked with George through the door leading to the stairs.

"Be careful." Cindy looked guilty, she looked like she felt as if she was sending them on a suicide mission and it was all her fault they had to go.

"We'll be back." George gave Cindy a smile before shutting the door. The narrow stairs seemed smaller for some reason, but George followed David down the stairs. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, they heard a creaking noise and then a sudden crash. David opened the door slightly and peered through. The zombies had broken through the planks and were piling into the hallway.

"We've got to be fast." David didn't wait for George to reply before shoving the door open and running to the right. George could feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins; he suddenly became aware of everything. As he ran out, he stumbled and fell but righted himself quickly. The zombies were moving as fast as they could, arms reaching out grasping at the hope that their meal would be slow enough for them to catch.

David was much faster than George was and was at the door seconds before him. He wrenched open the door and held it open for George to run through. As soon as George cleared the door, David slammed it shut and locked it. They were safe from the zombie hoard, but were now trapped inside. Quickly, David put his hand inside of his tool bag and withdrew a small folding knife. He flipped it open and stood by the door.

"Go and find that key while I hold the door, alright?" David said as he held the door shut as it began to shake with the weight of the hungry zombies. George could only nod before rushing off and throwing various objects on the floor while searching for the key. The desks had papers detailing sales reports and business expenses, but no keys. George's mind was racing, trying to think about where the owner might have stored the key. He growled in frustration as he spilled the contents out of one of the desk drawers and finding it too full of papers.

"You mind hurrying up; I can't hold this all day you know." David said straining to hold the door closed. George groaned and redoubled his efforts. Try as he might, George couldn't find the key in the office. It was then that he noticed the shadow swaying on the balcony. His heart nearly stopped, all of the adrenaline that was fueling George suddenly changed to fear. David looked at George and followed his gaze; his face displayed the same fear that was over coming George. "Take this."

David handed George the folding knife and urged him onto the balcony. The small knife felt like a lead brick in George's hand. What was he going to do? He didn't know how to fight. He wasn't trained to kill these things. He was a doctor, a healer not a killer.

His heartbeats drowned out all of the noises in the room. He calmed himself by matching his footsteps with his heartbeats, forcing himself to keep moving. While George was adept with the use of a blade, he wasn't looking forward to having to use it.

The shadow continued to sway as George approached the opening in the wall that led to the balcony. As he walked onto the balcony, he was greeted by the stench of rot. It was as if the whole city was rotting to its very core. The wind was hot with the fires that spread throughout the city, making the stench all the more unbearable. The landscape didn't bode well for their escape as it looked like what was happening to them now, was all over the city.

At the sound of shuffling feet, George was snapped out of his depressing thoughts. To his right, a portly man stood, looking at the ground. Even in the dark, it was hard to mistake one of those monstrosities. His jaw was hanging loose, no doubt broken from something. His tatters button down plaid shirt was stained with almost every bodily fluid known to man. He reeked of death and fecal matter.

George stifled the urge to vomit and backed away. The man was getting up from a chair, ad as he did something dropped to the ground. Mentally, George reassured himself, telling himself that he could do it he could kill this thing. The man let out a moan as he reached out, clutching the air. He opened and closed his fingers like an infant, preparing for George. George stepped into the opening of the balcony, back into the owner's office. Slowly, the man shuffled towards George.

When he was close enough, the man lunged at George. Instinctively, George ducked down low, lowering his shoulder. His leg was like a coiled spring, all of his energy was stored and raging to be released. It took him a moment to prepare. George let out a cry as he pushed off with his leg, all of the stored up energy was released in one violent attack. His shoulder smashed against the man's chest, his rib cage and sternum shattered. The man stumbled backwards and hit the railing. Without wasting a second, George ran up and pushed the man over the edge.

George stood, huffing with all of the effort it took to push the man over the railing. Something hit him from behind, catching him off guard. David had hit him on the shoulder and was running past him. It gave George a sense of safety, seeing another living person with him, knowing he wasn't alone there at that moment. However, David's face gave George a sudden fright. He was screaming something at George, but George couldn't quite put it all together. David pulled at George' hand, nothing was making sense. As David pulled George into the corner of the balcony, everything became clear.

The hoard of zombies poured through the opening in the wall, trapping them on the balcony.


	4. Chapter 4

George felt David pulling on his jacket, urging him to move. Where could they go, they were on a balcony three stories off the ground. Sighing, George relinquished himself to his fate. For an instant, he contemplated turning the knife on himself, but harrumphed and quickly decided against that course of action. Annoyance overtook George as David continued tugging on his jacket and yelling at him to move. He pushed David's hand away and turned back to the zombies. They were getting closer, it was like watching a river of molasses flow every steady towards him.

Suddenly, David grabbed George by his shoulders and forced him to turn around.

"What the _hell_ are you doing? Either follow me, or stay and get eaten, it's up to you." David was already climbing over the railing. George couldn't fathom what he was doing, was he going to jump?

Before George could protest, David leaped from the railing and crossed his arms in front of his face. Glass shattered as David flew through the window to the room next door. He hit a desk and rolled off onto the floor. Without conscious thought, George was already climbing over the railing, his instincts carrying him the entire way. As he threw his leg over the railing, he saw something glimmer in the moon light. It was that thing that fell out of the owner's lap when he stood up. George's eyes went wide at the sudden realization. It was the key.

Halfway over the railing, George could hear David calling to him, telling him to jump. George hesitated a moment, judging how close the zombies were and if he could make it to the key. Reluctantly, George threw his leg back over the railing and despite David's cries ran with all he could towards the key. The first zombie lunged at George, but before it could make contact, George was already under the rotting arms of death. With his hands, he pushed off the backside of the zombie, propelling himself forward.

The second zombie didn't fare as well as the first; George shoved him to the side. Clumsily, the zombie fell through the little glass window, breaking the glass. George was on top of the key; he grabbed the key and shoved it in his pocket. When he looked up, another zombie was already on him. As the zombie toppled over, trying to pin George under its weight, George quickly tucked his legs to his chin and rolled to the left. With a _clang,_ the zombie smacked its head against the railing.

His bounty now in hand, George dodged and weaved his way through the zombie hoard until he was back to the railing. As fast as he could, George threw both of his legs over the railing and looked at where he was going to go. As he leapt from the railing, he could feel hands brush his jacket.

The distance was too far, he wasn't going to make it.

Glass crunched under his foot as he landed on the windowsill. George flailed his hands around, trying to regain his balance and not plummet to the ground below. David reached through the window and grabbed George's pants to help him stabilize. Gracelessly, David pulled George through the window. As he fell through, George's foot was caught on the edge of the windowsill, causing him to stumble on the desk and fall on his savior.

"Gah!" David cried as George's shoulder slammed hard into his chest. George apologized as he scrambled to his feet. "What the hell did you go back for?"

Instead of answering, George pulled out the key and smiled. David returned the smile with a smug grin. "Well, I hope it was worth almost getting killed over."

"It will be if we can get back upstairs." George was sure that the zombies would take a while to get back through the owner's room, but wasn't sure if there were any stragglers outside.

"Yeah, we should be good." David said as he brushed the dust off of his overalls. George nodded and went for the door.

Outside, the break room sounded clear except for the noise coming from the owner's room. He slipped noiselessly through and went to his left, where the door to the upstairs was. As they reached the door, the zombies started to trickle out of the owner's room. David and George ran through the door and shut it behind them. David held the door closed and told George to go use the key, that he would meet them upstairs. Not wanting to waste the chance David was giving them, George bolted up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Mark stood in the doorway, with one of the bottles in his hand. George flew past him, key in hand yelling at everyone to follow 

him. No one moved at first, but after seeing David holding the door at the bottom of the stairs began running to catch up with George.

It didn't take long for George to get to the forklift, but operating it was another matter. His hands were shaking so much that it was difficult for him to get the key lined up with the key hole. After a few seconds of failure, Cindy took the key and turned the forklift on; she put a hand on George's shoulder and flicked the switch to raise the platform. She smiled and quietly thanked George for going before climbing up the ladder.

In the distance, George could hear Mark yell something to David. A few seconds later, the sound of the door smashing against the adjacent wall echoed in the liquor room.

"Now Mark!" David screamed, followed closely by a deafening _crash_ and a heart-stopping _whoosh_.

George ushered people up the ladder when he saw Mark and David come barreling around the corner waving George on.

"Go, go, go!" David was waving at George and screaming at the top of his lungs. From behind the corner another, louder _whoosh_ whistled in the air. Flames sprayed out of the hallway that David and Mark had just run from. The flames licked at the ceiling and covered the walls. A solid concussion of air flattened George against the ladder and knocked both David and Mark flat on their faces. Not wanting to be around for any more explosions, George scrambled up the ladder as fast as possible.

Alyssa, in front of George, was serpentining on the shelves, reminding George of a large red snake. From below, David pushed Mark up the ladder before climbing up himself. The ventilation duct was not more than twenty feet away, but it seemed miles to George.

Another, smaller, blast found its way through the halls and into the area with the forklift, causing George's heart to stutter for a split second. The heat from the intense flames made the room feel like a sauna, and made the crawling that much more unbearable. When he reached a bend in the 

shelves, he was suddenly over taken by a stitch in his side. His muscles stiffened and pain shot up along his stomach and into his chest. He pulled in air in ragged breaths, trying to keep moving and massage the ache in his side at the same time. Forcibly, he twisted his body, sending another breath taking shock of pain all the way through his body. George kept telling himself that he had to keep moving, if he didn't move then people behind him would die, he wasn't just moving for himself now.

He tried to push the pain from his mind as he now crawled on his side towards the ventilation duct that was only a few feet away. With his legs, he pushed his body, trying to do as little with his arms and upper body as he could.

Before long, the duct was upon him, he pushed as quickly as he could through the duct until he was on the other side. He shot up, ran to the wall, and bent over, clutching his side. Slowly, he rubbed the area, massaging his muscles until they became flexible again, maneuverable. Steadily, his breathing regulated and he felt a hand on his back. Cindy was standing next to him.

"Are you alright George?" Cindy moved her hand up and down his back, trying to comfort him. "That was a brave thing you did, I don't know if we'd be alive if someone didn't go and get that key."

A smile spread across her lips, it warmed his heart to see her smile. "It wasn't just me though, David was a big help, we both got the key."

"I know." She smiled again, leaving to walk up the stairs. George couldn't help follow her with his eyes. He felt another hand smack him in the back.

"Guess we did it, huh?" David said a small self-satisfied smile etched on his face.

"Yeah we did." George knew it was only the beginning, but he couldn't help but feel that he had somehow accomplished something monumental in that short little run to get the key. He had once again saved lives, he had done his job.

"Okay, the only way out is on the roof, we can get across to the next building, it's a short hop but we can make it." Cindy led them all through the doorway at the top of the stairs and out on to the roof.

The fresh air was exhilarating, it seemed to clear George's mind, it was nice to have something other than the stale air filled with the stench of rotting corpses. As George stretched, reaching to the sky trying to prevent any more cramps, he heard something that made him cringe.

A bird.


	5. Chapter 5

High pitched _caws_ and wings flapping filled the cool night air. George subconsciously felt the bulge in his jacket pocket where the knife was. Everyone was looking frantically at the sky, searching for the crows. They were nearly invisible against the dark sky, except for the times that they blacked out the stars giving away their position. Warily, all eight survivors made their way around the protruding building that they had just come from and out onto the main part of the roof. Just ahead, a gate blocked the entrance to a small catwalk that led to the other roof. Cindy tried the gate but it was locked.

"We're going to have to knock this down somehow." She said, pulling on the locked gate to enhance her meaning. Kevin nodded and began kicking the gate. It was tough going, but with Mark's help, they were underway to get the gate out of the way.

From above, the crows went silent. The eerie feeling of the still night tied knots in George's stomach. He reached in his pocket and took out the small knife. Hitting a flying crow with a knife was a feat just short of impossible, but just having it out calmed George's nerves a bit. With his thumb, he flicked open and closed the knife while eyeing the sky.

Suddenly, Yoko let out a scream. She fell backwards and crawled a few feet, just barely missing getting hit by a diving crow. The night blazed up in alarm. Kevin and Mark stopped hitting the gate and took out their guns.

"Don't! You'll just waste your shots!" David was screaming as he ducked out of the way of a crow. "Just get that gate down quick."

Kevin seemed reluctant at first, but when Mark went back to tackling the gate, Kevin relinquished his hold on his stubbornness. A rhapsody of high-pitched caws mixed with beating wings and the sound of groaning metal trying to stay stolid against the rampage of attacks Kevin and Mark bleated against the gate rung out in the still night. The three crows flew around the group of survivors like a living hurricane, diving in and out, trying to peck at them.

With a loud _crash_ the gate fell back and Kevin screamed them to follow him as he climbed up on the ledge. In as much of a group that they could muster, they filed through the small opening and out onto the ledge. Kevin was already running towards the gap between the two buildings. The lights to the Jay's Bar sign flashed by as George ran with the crowd of people, dodging the constant attacks from the crows. Kevin was already preparing for the jump. He stepped back a few paces and charged, pushing off 

the edge at the last possible moment. He flew through the air, his calf smacking hard against the other building. Kevin let out a grunt of pain as he leaned forward and threw his legs over the edge. When he stood up, Jim pushed past everyone else and jumped over, just barely missing the ledge. With a scream, Jim started to fall. Quickly, Kevin's hand shot out and grabbed Jim by the wrist and hauled him over the edge.

They weren't all going to make it, not with the crows bothering them, George couldn't help but wonder if he was going to survive. It had only been mere moments, but George was already calculating his chances of survival if the crows were left to peck at them. As he ducked out of the way, George began to formulate a plan. They wouldn't be able to attack the crows because they moved too fast, so they had to do something else to pacify them. George thought for a second, then it hit him. He pulled off his jacket and waited. He had to time it just right or he was going to get hit.

As he stood there, George watched the crows fly over head, choosing who they wanted to attack and when. His eyes followed each and every one of them, judging when they were going to attack, when he would have the time to enact his plan. Suddenly, the one closest to George changed direction, it tucked its wings in and dove at George. It lasted for only the span of a split second, the crow flew at George, he lifted his jacket up. The weight of the crow was surprising, as George wrapped the fabric of the jacket around the crow, it beat its wings and called out in terror. Without missing a beat, George picked up the slack in his jacket and swung it around with the weight of the crow and slammed it on the ground. He swing it around, over his head once more and with all of his weight, he slammed his jacket against the ground. The crow stopped fighting, its dead body was still in the jacket, the neck snapped and bones broken in two.

Before George let the body out of his jacket, he noticed that Mark and Alyssa were taking their jackets off, nodding at George that they agreed with George's plan. While the others jumped across the gap, Alyssa, Mark and George all stood behind them, with their jackets open, hoping to catch another crow and beat it to death. For a few moments, the crows circled around, watching the three people with their jackets open. George thought that they might be contemplating attacking him with renewed need after he had just killed one of their own. With a loud caw, both remaining crows tucked their wings in and dove at the three people. Both Mark and Alyssa caught one each and swung their jackets in the air, slamming them on the ground over and over again.

With the ordeal finally over, they turned around to find that everyone had already jumped over. Mark and George both ushered Alyssa over first. She jumped and landed with both feet on the end of the ledge, her arms flailed at the air, trying to right herself and fall onto the roof. Kevin circled her waist with 

his arms and pulled her back over the edge. George was next, timing his jump as he ran the remaining distance between him and the gap. He leapt through the air, hitting his knee on the ledge. Pain shot up his thigh and exploded in his stomach. Instinctively, he grabbed for his knee, letting go of the handhold he had on the rooftop.

Kevin screamed his name as George began to slip from the ledge. George felt Kevin's hands holding him up, under his armpits. Groaning with the strain of holding up George, Kevin hauled George over the ledge and pulled him away from the drop. Tears dripped down George's faced as he nursed his knee. His pants soaked through with the blood from the fresh gash on his knee. Cindy was bending down near him, she tore his pant leg open.

"You've got to be more careful, George." She smiled as she took a plant from her medical kit and ground bit part of it off. She chewed the leaf from the little green plant until it was ground well enough. Cindy took the plant out of her mouth and applied the gooey mixture to the wound on George's leg. When the goo was well in his wound, she wrapped a bandage around his leg and helped him up. The plant soothed any ache he had and made standing easier.

"Thanks, I guess we'll be needing more of those plants." George laughed as she put the remaining part of the plant back in to her herb case.

"Oh, they're all over around here people grow these little plants in their homes, only Raccoon City has these types of plants." Cindy said as she zipped up her case.

"You seem to know a lot about these plants, you grow a lot of them yourself?"

"I had a few back at my apartment, but they're hardly worth going back for." Cindy looked over as Mark crossed the gap and stood up over the edge. "Seems we're all over now, we can just go down through this apartment, and hopefully the streets will be clear enough."

George nodded, and patted thanks on Kevin's shoulder before following everyone into the apartment building. They had to hope this building was clear of both zombies and rubble so they could get to the streets below.


	6. Chapter 6

The small door creaked open slowly as Yoko put all of her weight into opening the rusty door. Inside, a door that led to a narrow stairwell was blocked by some debris, leaving the elevator as the only other means of getting to the first floor. Jim pressed the call button for the elevator, and everyone waited in silence, hoping that it would work. When the light flashed on and a _ding_ sounded, a collective sigh was released.

As the doors rolled open, a moan escaped from inside, hands reached out at the eight survivors. Jim fell on the ground, Kevin kicked over Jim, and George took the knife out of his pocket. The zombie staggered backwards, but didn't fall like they had hoped. Reeling from its momentary set back, the zombie righted itself by throwing its body forward and continuing its assault. Kevin leaned back, preparing to kick the zombie again, but before he could bring his foot up something flew past him and hit the zombie square in the chest. The force of the impact forced the zombie on its back.

David stood with his hand in his pouch, reaching for another wrench. Kevin nodded his thanks, and then with the help of the others pounced on the fallen zombie. Lacking any real weapons, eight feet all collided on the downed zombie, crushing it into an unrecognizable pulp in a matter of seconds. Quickly, they pushed the body out of the elevator, David collected his wrench, and Alyssa pushed the button for the ground floor. The elevator speakers played a tinny tune as they descended the four stories to the ground floor.

With a sudden jolt, the shuttered to a halt and the doors slid open. Single file, everyone left the elevator and walked into the T hallway. Cindy looked down and stopped, crouching down low. George waited by her to see what she was doing.

"See these?" Cindy pointed at the potted plants on the ground. They looked just like the one she put on his wound but were different colors. "The red one there, it helps the body to heal faster when used in conjunction with any of the other two. The blue one there, it can be ingested, and when ingested it can purge the body of certain poisons."

Cindy took her bag from behind her and unzipped it, carefully she pulled the plants out of the pots making sure not to tear them too high up on the stem. She flattened them and put them in the bag. "We'd better catch up." She said as she stood up quickly and led George through the halls. Two zombies lay on the ground in a pool of their own murky blood; no doubt, the others had already taken care of them.

"You know, I can probably figure a way to alter those plants, to make medicines out of them."

The side of Cindy's mouth curled slightly upward. "So you've said."

"I did?"

"Yeah, back at the bar. When I first showed you my herb case."

"Hm, so I guess I did. You've got a good memory there." George laughed, mostly to cover the embarrassment of repeating himself. "Well, everyone else is up ahead, after you."

George held open the door to the streets for Cindy. Outside, the sounds of gunshots rang out and echoed in the hollow grounds of the streets. A police officer stood outside by some cars, with a shotgun pushing back an advancing hoard of zombies.

"Someone help!" He screamed and both David and Kevin ran to him. "Push those cars, block them in."

Both of them nodded and started to push the farthest police car, while Mark and Jim began pushing the closer one. Kevin and David were having a tough time, keeping the zombies at bay and pushing the car. Alyssa, feeling useless, opened up one of the cars and broke open the locked glove box. Inside rested a standard issue police side arm. She ejected the clip and finding it full, shoved it back into the butt of the pistol. In one smooth motion, she cocked the gun and slammed the door shut with her foot.

As she reached them, Alyssa gave Kevin a pat on his back to let him know that she was there to help. He nodded his thanks and redoubled his effort with David to push the car. Alyssa took aim and shot at the closest zombie, hitting it between the eyes. Pushing the car became harder as the zombies piled in around the front grill, David and Kevin pushed harder against the wall of flesh.

"Is there any more ammo?" Yoko asked the officer, who was standing guard taking out any stragglers who got past Alyssa and felt the need to attack the survivors in the back.

"In the trunk of the car right here." The officer motion to the car next to him before he let off another shot at a zombie who was getting too close for comfort. Yoko sprang into action, popping the trunk open. She reached inside and took as many clips as she could carry, storing some in her backpack. Without taking the time to shut the trunk, Yoko was running as fast as her legs could carry her, jumping over the hood of the car with the ammunition as Mark and Jim closed the gap between that car and the wall with the other car they were pushing. She stumbled, almost falling, as she hit the ground running for Alyssa who had just run out of ammunition for her pistol. The zombies were flooding around the car, making it much harder for Kevin and David to push it without being attacked. Alyssa cursed aloud, throwing the empty clip on the ground and jumping backwards to avoid being grabbed. Yoko came up behind Alyssa and handed her a clip.

"Thanks", Alyssa grabbed the clip, slammed it where the empty one used to be, and cocked the gun. In a matter of moments, she already had the zombie who almost grabbed her in her sights. The hammer smashed against the casing and the bullet exploded from the barrel. Collapsing to the ground, the zombie bled the contents of its head all over the ground. Before that zombie hit the ground, Alyssa had let off another shot, hitting one of the zombies in the chest.

With a heavy grunt, David and Kevin finally lodged the car between another police car and the wall, closing off the gap to the zombies. It didn't shut them out though; some climbed over or under the car, determined to get their next meal.

"We can't stay here, we need to move." George found himself not telling the officer the necessity of their actions, but pleading it to him. He only responded with a nod before calling the others back over and running up to a wooden door to the back of the street.

"Everyone, come on we have to get of here!" He screamed as he unlocked the door and ushered everyone through as the zombies poured over the second barricade. After everyone was through, the officer shut and bolted the door. Loud _bangs_ shuttered the door as the zombies pushed against it from the other side.

"Damnit! It's locked; we can't go through this way." The officer was already to the other side of the little alleyway. He flipped the shotgun over in his hands and hit the butt against the door. "Help me out, we've got to get through, or we're all dead."

George started to walk to the other side of the alley, when the tiny gates on either side of the bolted door they had just come through flew open. Hands reached through as two zombies pulled their way into the alley.

"They're coming through!" He screamed as Cindy and he stomped on the adventurous zombies as they came through. Fishing around in his pocket, he found the knife David had given him and flicked it open. George grunted as he slashed at one of the zombies coming through the opening. It was a losing battle, Cindy and George had to back up as more and more pulled their way through. "H…hey, they're coming through, hurry it up."

A cursory glance back showed George that the other people were too busy tackling or hitting the door to get it open to notice the zombies trickling through the two holes in the wall on either side of the door. Cindy's face showed the same fear his did, as they watched more and more zombies crawl into the alley. She looked around and spotted something George couldn't see off to her right.

George screamed as he flung himself at another zombie, plunging his blade into its eye down to the hilt of the knife. With his foot as a fulcrum, he pushed the zombie back and watched it fall to the ground. He felt a hand grab his shoulder before he could turn around. Salivating jaws opened as a zombie pulled him close, trying to bite his shoulder.

Before George could let out a cry, something whistled by his hear and the zombie's head exploded. Gore flew in every direction, both covering George and the adjacent wall. The corpse fell to the ground, almost pulling George with it. Cindy stood, huffing with a metal pipe soaked in blood, hanging in her arm.

"Th…thanks." George tried to smile, but couldn't. Cindy's face contorted and she pointed behind George. Not taking time to turn around, George ducked, hands closed above him as a zombie tried to grab him again. George shoved his knife upwards as he stood quickly, ramming the knife up under the zombie's chin. Blood cascaded down the blade, flowed over his hands, and down his arms before he 

pulled the knife out. The feeling of the blood sickened George, but he stifled the urge to vomit and ducked to the left to avoid the corpse falling on him.

The door on the far end of the alley gave under the pressure of the barrage of attacks and finally broke open. Mark turned around and called to George and Cindy, who were backing away from the slow moving wall of zombies. George turned on the ball of his feet and grabbed Cindy by the arm, pulling her with him. She didn't need much coercion to run from the hoard and started to run with him.

As they cleared the doors, they noticed that there were more zombies inside this area, the officer was fighting them off with his shotgun, but didn't seem to be doing much damage. Mark shut the doors behind them, holding them closed enough for Jim to throw over a piece of wood her found. With the door barred, they only had to find another way out.

It didn't take long for them to realize that they faced a dead-end and were now sandwiched between to encroaching hoards of zombies.

They were going to die.

The officer was doing his best to keep the one hoard at bay, but he was failing fast. Alyssa had started to help him out, using whatever ammo she and Yoko had left.

"We've got to do something." George shouted over the gunshots. The officer turned to look, to see what he could do, he stopped firing for a second, looking at the truck next to them. Alyssa shouted at him, but it was too late a zombie pushed him over and climbed on top of him.

"Leak the gas! Burn these bastards!" His final words were mixed into a scream as the zombie sunk its teeth into his back, tearing at his exposed muscle. With his final ounce of strength, he heaved a lighter up the small incline towards where everyone stood. Alyssa and Yoko ran to help, but he waved them off, resigning to his fate. Reluctantly, they ran back to where everyone else stood. Kevin picked up the lighter, obviously distressed by watching the officer die.

Jim didn't waste any time, he turned the valve on the truck, and the contents of its tanker spilled all over the ground. Following the path of least resistance the gas found its way to the lowest point of the alleyway, creating a good-sized puddle around the zombies and the now dead officer. Kevin flicked open the lighter's cap and drug his thumb across the striker, a flame ignited out of the golden box, licking at the air. Kevin turned and threw the lighter behind him.

With a loud _whoosh,_ the gasoline exploded in a mixture of a blinding light and dazzling heat as it raced down towards the huddle of zombies. No one was expecting the results they got, each backed away as quickly as possible.

"Move! Get out before it reaches the rest of the tanker!" David screamed before he jumped into the ditch below, splashing in the river of runoff water. One-by-one they all followed him, Mark being the last to jump. As soon as Mark hit the water, a large ball of flames shot out, covering the area he was occupying not a few seconds ago. The ball expanded and drove itself into the sky, illuminating the night sky. It was so bright and hot that George had to look away and hide his face from the heat.

Now momentarily safe from both hoards of zombies, they had to find a way out of the city; they had to find a way to escape. Time would only tell how they could pull off such a stunt.


	7. Chapter 7

The ice-cold water closed around George like a second skin, sucking the heat from his body as the night returned to a pitch-black void. Breathing became easier as the flames died down and stopped sucking the oxygen out of the air. George popped out of the water like a buoy, gasping for air. He flipped his wet hair out of his eyes, looking around he grabbed on to the first person near him and pulled them out of the water with him. Alyssa's blond hair clung to her face as George hauled her to the surface of the water. The stitch in his side came back with vengeance, but he did his best to ignore it, the adrenaline coursing through his bloodstream was doing a good job to help him forget about anything that was bothering him.

He saw Cindy bob out of the water too, followed closely by David, Mark, then Yoko. He looked around and couldn't find Kevin or Jim. After a few seconds, he thought they might still be under the water, but he spotted Kevin pushing Jim up through a metal pipe. A wave of relief flooded over George, everyone was safe, and no one was hurt. Kevin started screaming something, but the ringing in George's ears, from the explosion, was louder than Kevin's voice. Regardless, George felt it must be important and he figured he was just telling them he found a way out. George pushed off the wall behind him with his legs and glided through the dirty water.

With everyone at the pipe, Kevin started to haul people up into the pipe. George put his foot in Kevin's clasped hands and climbed up into the pipe. He fell out into a small underground walkway, filled with construction tools and rats. His footsteps echoed as he walked to catch up with Jim, but hung back enough for Cindy to catch up.

"Are you okay?" George caught her arm as she started to walk past him.

"Yeah, just a bit shaken up from the explosion that's all. Thankfully, the ringing stopped." She let out a small, self-conscious chuckle.

"Seems that everyone's having trouble hearing." Kevin said as he caught up. "I said wait for everyone in the tunnel, we don't know what's in here."

"Oh, I'm sorry I really couldn't hear you." George frowned, not wanting to anger the man who had already saved him once.

"Eh, it doesn't look like there's anything in here anyway. Why don't we just meet up there and see how we're going to get out of this thing alive?" Kevin pointed towards an opening in the walkway that led off to the left.

"Sounds like a good idea to me." George consented and followed the path to the opening and waited with Cindy. Kevin left to gather everyone else, pointing back to George and Cindy every time he talked to someone. George sighed and slid to the ground, using the wall to slow his descent.

"Tired?" Cindy asked as she sat next to him.

"Aren't you? This whole thing is sapping any energy I had." George rubbed his eyes.

Cindy put her hand on his knee. "Maybe you just need a breather, I think it would do us all good to take a rest, we seem safe for now."

"That's probably one of the reasons Kevin wants to 'plan' our escape." George wasn't convinced that Kevin had a plan and even if he did that, it was any more developed than getting out of the city. So far, the entire night was thought up on the fly, luck had taken them this far. He wasn't so sure that they could count on luck very much longer. Kevin walked up to them with the other people in tow.

"Alright, why don't we just sit down and think this through." Kevin motioned to the floor, expecting everyone to sit when he told them to. No one posed any protest and everyone sat down obediently. George took note of how ashen everyone's face was; he was sure his was no different.

"Alright, obviously we need to get out of the city, but how is the real question." Kevin started. "I figure we can probably get a couple of cars, but the streets will more than likely be blocked with barricades like we had made. Any suggestions?"

"What about a train or something?" Alyssa was the first to speak up.

"The track might be blocked." Jim shot her down. "But, it's probably got the best chance, we'd just have to take it slow, that's all."

"Is there any chance for us to call someone? Like the police or fire department for help?" Yoko sounded sure of herself.

Kevin shook his head. "Doubtful, everyone else in the entire city has or is already trying to call them, we could make our way to the station, but calling them is out of the question."

"We're shooting down all of these ideas, but we really can't know anything about them until we try them right?" Cindy spoke up. "I mean, we can't just put them down until we try."

"You expect us to just go on every whim and try them all?" Alyssa's eyebrows drew down at the lunacy of the notion.

"Why not? What have we to lose? I mean, we can't just put all our hope on one escape route, we need to have many. I'm just saying that if one doesn't work we can't put down all of the other ones, they all have an equal chance of success and failure."

"So, you want us to split up or something?" Mark's voice grumbled from next to Kevin.

"Not necessarily, we should just look for the closest one, take the chance, and if that doesn't work try the next." Cindy's conviction was evident.

"That's a dangerous idea, someone will probably get hurt or worse killed." David's scratchy voice rose up.

George didn't see why everyone was against her idea, all she was saying was that if one didn't work try the next. "Why are you all jumping down her throat? What she's saying makes sense. If you don't succeed at first, try, try again right?" George couldn't keep his mouth shut.

Cindy nodded, and continued his thoughts. "I just think that if we don't get one, we should try the next idea. If the train's blocked we should try the police station, or if that's overrun we should try the cars, and so on."

"We could be at it forever or at least long enough for those things to pick us off." Kevin noted.

"Then we need to arm ourselves, perhaps we should go for the police station first, at least then we could get weapons and things first before we head off." Cindy's eyes lit up, she had the best idea so far, and she knew it. She was fueled by the need to get these people to see that she was right; she needed them to believe her and trust her.

It was silent for a few minutes, everyone staring at either Cindy or the floor. George's mind was made up before the talking stopped, Cindy was right it was their only choice, not to mention the most logical one at that. Kevin cleared his throat.

"I really don't see anything wrong with it, I suggest we find weapons first though, and provisions." Kevin looked around at everyone else, most nodding their agreement. A small smile slowly spread across Cindy's face, she convinced them. George stealthily put his hand on her back and gave it a little rub, signifying his congratulations. She didn't turn to look, but put her hand on his arm in thanks.

"Then we should be off before those things find us." Alyssa said as she rose from the ground, futilely trying to brush off any dirt on her ruined pantsuit. She started to walk towards the back of the walkway. "There's a ladder here, who wants to go first?"

After a few moments, Alyssa answered her own question and started up the ladder. George helped Cindy onto her feet and let her lead the way to the ladder. With their plan set, they only needed to find out where to go to get supplies. Single file, they ascended the ladder, climbing through the manhole above them.

Outside, the wretched stench of the rotting dead mixed with fires dispersed throughout the city mixed into a potpourri of bad smells. George tried his best to ignore the stench, but soon found himself using his shirt to filter the air.

The scene before them was distressing. Trashcans were over turned, dumpsters covered the streets the trash that was once inside littered on the ground. There was a store to their right, with an alleyway that led to a barricade and a hotel to their left with the door broken open.

"I'm kind of thirsty, I haven't had anything to drink but what I had at Jay's, and that's not something that quenches thirst well." Alyssa spoke loudly, so everyone could hear. "Anyone else thirsty?"

Most of them nodded. "I'm sure the hotel will have some sort of store that we could get bottles of water in, I wouldn't trust the tap water we don't know how this disease got spread in the first place." George said as he pointed to the hotel. "That's our best bet, seeing as how this is a dry cleaners, I doubt they'd have water. Besides, someone might still be alive in there, and if we can help them it might increase our chances of survival."

Everyone seemed to be in agreeance or if they weren't, they didn't voice any complaint. They turned and began to walk into the hotel, where the unknown dwelled.


	8. Chapter 8

Faded red paint enveloped the crumbling architecture. Signs of battle pot-marked the walls, bullet casings littered the floor. Kevin bent down and picked up a casing, looked at it, tossed it in the air and caught it.

"I don't think we'll find many people alive in here." Kevin dropped the casing on the floor and walked up to the front desk. It read **Apple Inn** on a hard plastic name block. He turned the name block up towards himself and placed it back on the desk.

"How can you tell?" Jim asked, taking the name block for himself.

"Even if no one died in whatever happened here, they must've gotten out, there's no way that they couldn't have made it to the door. Even if they didn't make it, there are no bodies, so they're zombies then." Kevin looked around the front lobby, taking note of the doors on the right side of the room. George walked past David and into the actual lobby.

"Well, at least there's one good thing about all of this." George said touching some of the holes made by the bullets. "There's a good chance that there're some weapons here."

"Yeah, but standing around here isn't doing us any good, we should try to find the way out of here." Kevin said as he quickly crossed the room. He jiggled the handle on the door to the right side of the lobby, but it was locked. "Damn, locked. That means the only way out are those doors right there."

Jim, being the closest tried one of the double doors. The door opened into a lush garden square with a statue in the middle of the grass and another door on the opposite side, and a door to the right of where they came in. Jim walked in and moved towards the statue, feeling along its curves and the smoothness of the stone.

Once everyone was in the little courtyard, the door to the lobby shut behind them. Yoko looked around, looking at both doors. "Which way should we go?"

"Maybe we should just split up?" David suggested as he went for the door to the right of the double doors leading to the lobby. Before he could make it to the door, the ground rumbled. Someone screamed something from inside the door he was going towards. David stopped mid-step.

"What was that?" Kevin asked with his hands held partially out to his sides, preparing to balance himself if needed. "David you might want to-"

Before Kevin could finish his sentence, something exploded from inside the door. The door flew off its hinges, crashing into the wall opposite where it stood. David was blown back from the concussion of the blast, hitting Mark and toppling both of them over. The others felt the force of the blast as well each falling down on the soft grass below. A blast of flames shot out of the opening that was created by the blast, making night into day for a few seconds. David turned over on Mark, shielding his face from the flames that were mere feet from them.

"Shit!" Kevin and Alyssa called out as the flames died down. Everyone stood up shakily, not sure, if another flame was going to come out.

"We bettah, get out of here." Mark said, brushing himself off and going to the door to the lobby.

"I wouldn't-" George tried to say but Mark had already grabbed the door handle.

"Sonuvabitch!" Mark screamed as he recoiled and nursed his burned hand. Cracks had formed along the top of the door, snaking out all over the wall above, jeopardizing the structural integrity of the building.

"Look, we can't go that way." George tried to explain.

"No shit Sherlock." Alyssa retorted.

Ignoring her outburst, George continued. "We better split up and find the best way out, two groups of four; we can cover more ground that way. It only makes sense that if any way leads to a dead end that we come back here."

"I like everything except the coming back here part, this place is on fire, there's no chance of surviving if we come back here." David stood with his hand on his hip. "So how're we going to pick who goes where?"

"Well, I guess someone will have to go through the door that just exploded; any volunteers?" George was hoping that someone would willingly go, but wasn't holding out for someone to jump at the chance. When no one answered, he nodded and started to walk to the opening. "I guess I'll go."

Cindy grabbed his arm. "I'll go too."

George smiled his thanks and continued to the door. Before leaving, he looked back. "Anyone else willing?"

David sighed and started to walk to the door, followed closely by Mark. "Alright, we'll go this way and you all go through that door, our only chance is to get back to the lobby somehow."

Without looking back, the four proceeded into the room where the explosion happened. There was a smoking boiler and some other accoutrements, with a ladder standing erect in the back of the room. Just in front of them lay the body of a deceased firefighter. No doubt, they were looking for survivors and were caught in the blast, the super heated air probably suffocated them in nanoseconds. At least it was a quick death George though. George took off his jacket once more and wrapped it over his hands before grabbing onto the ladder. "This seems the only means of getting out of here." George said as he started to climb.

The ladder didn't feel so hot under the jacket, he assumed all the heat dissipated from the ladder, probably something to do with the type of metal used, aluminum had a low heat capacity. Regardless, 

George didn't waste any time getting off the ladder, those instruments could explode again at the slightest bump.

On the catwalk above, a second firefighter was dead on the floor; sadly, he didn't have a chance either. George shook his head as he moved past them to the door at the end of the walkway.

He opened the door into a hallway, lit not with lights but with the flickering flames of residual fire. The building was catching fire fast, so they had to get out of here quickly. George moved to a set of flames blazing up as he approached the corner, he had to pass these flames. Timing was imperative. As he counted, the others grouped up behind him, watching the flames as he did.

One.

Two.

Three.

In an instant, George was running through the space where mere moments ago, a scorching hot blast of flames was spraying. He made it to the other side and turned, Cindy was up next, she looked so intent, concentrating on the flames, hoping that she would get the timing right. As the flames died down, Cindy's skirt stuck tight to her legs as she ran at full speed through the hallway, into George's waiting arms. He hugged her close to him and pulled her away as the flames shot out into the hallway.

"Th…thanks." She said.

"Heh, no problem." George's face heated when he realized he was still holding her. Self-consciously, he let her go and backed up a step. "I'm just glad you're okay."

David brushed past as he cleared the hallway, coming between the two of them. George suddenly remembered where he was and backed away so Mark would have the clearance he needed to make it through the hall.

Once everyone was on the other side of the flames, they continued down the hallway, testing the handles on the doors, to see if there was any fire in the room. After numerous door handles, all being way too hot for comfort, they found one room next to an open window that was still relatively cool to the touch. George looked back at the other three with him and nodded before opening the door. A wave of cool air escaped the open doorway, dissipating as soon as it was exposed to the stuffy hot air.

Inside, there was a nightstand to their left a few feet away and a bathroom t their right. Nothing much was interesting in the room except for a few beds and some more of those plants that Cindy uses. She ran up and started to collect them, ignoring everything else in the room. David instinctually opened the bathroom and gasped. A body was lying inside, dried blood covering the woman's wrists with a knife on her right side. David frowned, fretting the woman's lack of hope and lack of resolve. Silently, George wondered if they would get to that level, wondered if they would get that hopeless.

David bent down and picked up the knife, cleaning the blade on the woman's shirt. In any other situation, George would find this incredibly disrespectful, but under the circumstances, he couldn't blame David. After cleaning the blade, David closed the folding knife and placed it in his bag where he took the one he gave to George from.

"We need to find a way out. I don't think that this here's an exit." Mark said as he took a cursory glance around the room. "Maybe we can try the window."

"Is that a good idea? I mean, where can we go from there?" Cindy said as she got up from picking the plants.

"Well, it's better than staying here." David was already shutting the door to the bathroom and heading for the door to the hallway. On the ledge to the window, the wind blew hard, ruffling George's clothes. He stared out for a few seconds before climbing on the ledge and out onto the grated fire escape. With the escape broken and destroyed, the only way they could go is around the outside of the building, towards another fire escape, or at least that was the hope.

Without a word, David recognized the problem and flattened himself against the side of the building before stepping out onto the tiny outcrop that ran along the length of the building. George followed closely behind him, with Cindy right next to him. The outcrop was no more than a foot long, barely providing enough room for their feet to be securely on the ledge. Wind ripped passed them, blowing their clothes and hair in all places.

They shimmied past windows of other rooms, seeing the fire roar up in each room they passed. On one window, a zombie was banging against the glass, trying to get at them. George wasn't sure how long the glass would hold, but he surely didn't want to be around when it broke. He held his breath as he came face to face with the rotting corpse on the other side of the glass. Streaks of saliva mixed with blood cascaded down the once clean window as the zombie licked at the glass, trying to get at George. With each hit, George's heart hammered.

As soon as it began, it was over, George moved past the window, his heart slowing down slowly. The brick was a welcome respite from the overwhelming terror that that window caused. He hoped that Cindy would take it better than he did; he hoped she would be able to get past the window without fretting, but he doubted that anyone could get past that without worrying.

Just then, he heard a scream and a _crash_. The window broke open and Cindy lost her balance. She started to fall, with the zombie falling just over her. Cindy struggled as she grabbed the ledge with her hands, the zombie plummeting to the ground below.

"Help!" She screamed as George shimmied as quickly as he could back to her. He whispered prayers to himself, praying that she would be okay, that he could get to her in time. The strain of holding on was etched on her face; tears flowed down her face, her eyes puffy and red. Slowly, George stretched his leg out to her.

"Grab my leg; I'll try to help you up." George screamed to her as he maneuvered his leg out to her. Before she could grab his leg, George heard something that caused his heart to stop for a split second. Wings.


	9. Chapter 9

Her screams echoed in the recess of his mind, filling him with dread and the need to stop the screaming. Burning need filled his entire body, taking over his actions. Flat against the wall, George stretched his leg out to the woman hanging by only a few fingers.

"Gra…grab my leg." He managed to get out, while trying to remain on the wall himself. The wings beat faster, coming closer, the sound of crows were evident and were floating on the wind. Cindy's face was red with the exertion of trying to pull herself up and hold on against the wind at the same time. Feebly, she tried to take hold of George's leg, but missed. She moaned in anger and pain at the missed attempt. George pushed his leg closer, but he couldn't move too much closer without compromising his own safety. With his other foot, he waddled his way closer, but the heat from the room in the broken window, made him instinctually recoil from the glaring heat.

"Ah!" George said as he shrunk back, but didn't move his feet. Cindy's fingers brushed against George's shoe, but she couldn't reach any further. Straining against her own stature, Cindy tried and tried to will her arms to grow longer, but she was just a fingertip short of his foot.

Begrudgingly, George waddled closer; pushing passed the urge to move back from the flames. It felt like his face was on fire, being cooked as he stood there, trying to reach Cindy. He felt her hand grip his ankle, she was firmly in his grasp. As he started to help her up by pulling up his leg, her eyes went wide.

Her grip on the ledge slipped from her and she fell off the ledge. Pain sparked from George's ankle and swam through his body, resting heavily on his hip. George bit the inside of his lip; he could taste the salty hot blood flow from a fresh wound in his mouth. His leg felt like it was being torn from his body, but he did his best to ignore the pain. Slowly, he pulled his leg up as far as he could. Risking his own safety to reach down with his hand, he almost could get her hand, but it was too far down and if he leaned any farther, he could very well fall off with her.

"George, please you have to help me!" Cindy screamed up through her sobs.

"I…I am." George's gritted teeth made it hard for him to talk. "Just, let go with one hand and pull yourself up far enough to take mine."

"No, I can't I'll fall."

"No, no you won't. Please just reach up and take my hand, we don't have much time." George was suddenly jerked back into reality when he heard the wings again, the caw of a ravenous crow looking for its next meal. "Hurry!"

"I…I'll try." Cindy said as she started to pull herself up George's leg. Her hand was coming closer to his, the pain had gone away, it left an empty void inside of him, that only saving her could fill. George saw his hand enclosing hers in his mind, but he just couldn't make it happen. Something black flashed in the corner of his eyes. The blur moved with a measured efficiency, deadly.

"Cindy, pull up _now_!" George screamed, trying to pull his own leg up farther. The strength in his leg was sapped, he couldn't move, he couldn't bring her up. The blur started to move again, but it disappeared from sight.

George growled as he used all of his strength to pull with his leg as hard as he could, his hand brushing against Cindy's. Their fingers grasped at each other, dancing in a frantic ballet of hopelessness.

George's head was swimming in a murky pool of consciousness; he was focusing so much on rescuing Cindy that he was losing touch with reality. He squeezed his eyes shut, shaking away the encroaching blackness. Once again pulling up with his leg, he redoubled his efforts, trying to pull Cindy up the remaining distance to his hands. She seemed so far away, it seemed impossible, he just couldn't pull up anymore, he needed her to drag herself up a little more, and he just needed her to help. She was going to die, he couldn't do it, and he couldn't even save her.

Their fingers touched once more, her fingertips rubbing against his. Suddenly, the black figure reentered his vision, it was diving, and it was coming at Cindy. Fear leapt into his mind, he was going to lose her, she wouldn't be able to hold on and sustain a hit from that crow. George had to think quickly, he had to think of something to do, some that that could give her a few more seconds.

With a mighty shake, George made Cindy slip back down a few inches just as the black blur flew where her head had just been. George screamed out in at the pain of Cindy's dead weight crashing against the wall once more, pulling at his leg again. Cindy screamed, not realizing that George had just saved her.

Frightened, Cindy pulled at his leg, pulling herself up back to where she had once been. George reached down once more, grabbing at the air, trying to get at Cindy's hand.

"P…pull yourself up." George said through ragged breaths. Cindy strained against her weight, pulling and grabbing onto George's leg, using her own legs to walk up the wall. She reached up once more, taking hold of George's wrist.

George started to slowly pull her up, but the blur was back. It was flying around, circling the air, waiting for the moment to strike. With only one hand, pulling Cindy up was slow going, she was helping finally but he just didn't have the strength that Kevin would have. Every centimeter was a battle against gravity as George hauled Cindy up.

In an instant, the blur was once again diving at Cindy, taking a more general approach, aiming where she was the largest target. George's heart hammered against his chest, he had to pull harder, had to get her feet on the ledge.

The blur was flying faster and faster coming dangerously closer. Cindy's blond hair clumped to her face as she cried out, reaching with her feet, trying to get a footing on the ledge. George leaned to his left, pulling with all of his weight.

In one final heave, George hoisted Cindy up high enough to get a foot on the ledge. A thud sounded from below, the crow hit the wall where Cindy was moments before. Its neck broken, the crow fell down to the ground with the zombie that tried to attack Cindy.

George took in breaths slowly, his leg hanging useless at his side. With his one working leg, he waddled his way across the rest of the ledge. The metal grate of the next fire escape greeted him graciously. George collapsed to the floor, fighting the urge to blackout. He serpentined his way to the far corner, away from the tiny opening that the others were climbing through. David helped pull him and sit him up.

"Are you okay?" He asked in a gruff voice, his concern seeping out. Cindy crossed the edge and ran up to George, sinking down next to him, throwing her arms around his shoulder. He couldn't move, but the adrenaline was wearing off, the pain snaking its way back into his body. His hip ached from the ordeal, and he couldn't move it.

"I think it's dislocated David, I'm going to need you to…pop it back in." George closed his eyes and swallowed back the pain creeping up into his head. "Can…can I use the leather on your bag there?"

"Sure, what do you need it for?"

"Roll it up as best you can please and stick it in my mouth." George was almost passing out, but he knew he had to hold on at least until they could get out of the hotel, it would get better with time. David did as George ask, putting the leather strap in George's mouth. George bit down on the strap, nodding to David as David put George's foot against his chest, leaning in, preparing for George to give him the cue. Taking a few deep breaths, George prepared himself. When he felt ready, George nodded to David.

Sudden pain exploded in his joint, he felt like his bones had just shattered into fine pieces that in turn stabbed his joint many times over. The leather prevented him from biting his tongue off, but didn't stifle the scream that echoed in the night. Tears streamed down his face, staining his jacket and clothes. He looked like a five year old, crying at the pain. George wanted to be stronger, but he couldn't hold back the tears, he wanted to be brave, but he knew he had to get to a hospital. The _pop_ signified that David had successfully relocated his leg, putting the bones back to their original position.

The pain quickly dissipated, leaving only the shadow of the sting residing. He didn't want to chance standing just yet, but he needed some water. When David moved away, Cindy again threw her arms around George, both apologizing and thanking him in the same breath. He could feel her tears against his cheek; all he could do is rub her back, whispering that he knew.


	10. Chapter 10

George pinched the bridge of his nose before rubbing his eyes and finally pushing the notch in his eye socket. His headache started to subside, but only by a little. He wasn't going to test his leg out just yet, so he decided that he would rest a few minutes before even trying to talk. Cindy was still wiping her eyes when George grabbed her arm.

"I need your help." He started.

"Of course anything." Cindy said eager to help him out.

"Okay, take the…red and green plants out, and do you have any blue?" George worked the careful calculations in his mind, taking into account the quit preparations. Cindy nodded and took out the three items he asked for. "Okay, take about a handful of leaves from the green one from the red and about three or four from the blue. Uh…better make that four."

Cindy nodded, counting out each leaf. George continued, working the recipe in his mind.

"Okay, now in my jacket here, inside pocket take the kit out, it'll be a bit small, but don't worry. There's a small mortar and pestle in there. You're going to have to do the leaves one at a time, but don't worry about that. Just start by grounding the green up until you have a palm size mound."

Cindy dropped a green leaf in and ground it to a find powder; she poured that powder into a container and ground up more until she had a good enough size.

"Good, now take the single blue leaf and ground that up, then mix it with the green, then do the same with the red." George said, trying to ignore the pain. Cindy set off, carefully mixing each herb the way he told her to, she wasn't nearly as skilled as George could be, but he wouldn't be able to do anything in the pain he was in, if he didn't make this medicine, then his joints would swell to the point where he wouldn't be able to move them. The little jar that Cindy was pouring the mixture into turned an off white, showing George that it was ready.

"Alright, Cindy take one of those clear containers and fill one of the halves up all the way, not both be sure about that, okay?" George touched Cindy's shoulder, hoping she understood. She nodded, her brow drawn down in concentration. A paper funnel helped to pour all of the contents into the pill half without wasting any. After it was filled, she forced the other side into the half that was full, completing the pill. Cindy handed the completed pill to George, who swallowed it dry.

"Alright, it's going to take a few moments, but at least it won't get infected or swell up, much. I need to get to a hospital, I need to get some real anti-biotics, and I need to get some sort of ice pack to slow the swelling." George motioned for David and Mark to help him to his feet. The pain was intense, but bearable enough to move. It didn't matter if it was unbearable, he would have to move, he couldn't delay the building was on fire and he had to get out to a hospital.

Slowly, he put weight on his leg, testing to see if he could support his weight, finding he could he grinned at the small battle he just won. With the extra amount of the green leaves he had Cindy put in, it was acting as a sort of painkiller, keeping his mind from the pain aching in his leg.

George was the first to climb down the ladder before them, taking his time as he went. Thankfully, he got down without a hitch; it seemed that his leg would hold him at least through the inn. The door to his left was the only way to go from the fire escape, so George headed for it, only stopping to wait for the others to catch up. Mark was the next down the ladder, making a show of going first in the door so George wouldn't be the one surprised by anything.

Mark took out his pistol once everyone was down the ladder and waiting at the door. Quickly, Mark opened the door and turned to the left and right, with his pistol leading him both times. Down the hall, a zombie stood, staring at the floor. Mark took aim and planted a bullet through his temple. David tried the double doors to their right, but they were locked with a key card slot below the handle.

"We need some sort of key card for this door." David said, jiggling the handle for everyone to see. They nodded and continued down the hall, towards the zombie Mark had just killed. As they went through, they found a few doors, most of which were too hot to open. The two that weren't too hot were an empty storeroom and a room with a hole in the floor. Since the storeroom didn't hold anything, they proceeded into the room with the hole in the floor.

"So…should we go down?" Cindy asked, staring at the hole.

"Is there any way to cushion the fall, maybe make it a bit shorter? I don't think my leg will be able to handle that jump." George said, embarrassed that he had to make them do special things for his injury. Mark looked around.

"Yeah, look here, I can just push this crate here down to the next floor." Mark said, standing behind the crate. He put his shoulder down low against the crate and pushed as hard as he could. The crate slowly scraped its way towards the hole, moving like a snail. Mark strained, pushing as hard as he could. Suddenly, when the crate was over the hole and enough of its weight was distributed unevenly, the crate toppled down to the floor below with a loud _crash_.

David jumped down first, helping Cindy down, and then George. George winced as his weight went to his injured leg, bending down he softened the blow by making it last longer. Mark climbed down last, letting everyone else go before him and letting them take their time. The room they were in was on fire, but the fire seemed to be spreading slowly, the building must've been built out of fire retardant material. George pushed that thought from his mind; he had more important things to think about.

As they were leaving, something caught his eye. It was a packet of papers, that was about to be burned up. He picked it up and stared for a few moments until he realized that it was a list of passwords for rooms on this level. Feeling it would most likely come in handy; George folded it half and stuck it in his coat pocket. He followed Mark through the door and into the next room.

David stood with a beaming grin on his face as he stared at something on a bench across from the door. He picked it up and showed it to them, a twelve-gauge shotgun. Quickly, he pumped the handle, revealing a shell in the barrel, with six more behind it. It was fully loaded.

This certainly changed things; they had a chance of getting out of this God forsaken city yet. Just as David claimed his newfound prize, a noise spoiled the elation. A clicking sounded from around the corner to their left, followed closely by the sound of hissing, like someone breathing heavily. Slowly, all four backed away from the corner, feeling the door handle of a nearby door. It was cool to the touch, so they all rushed into the door.

When they ran into the room, the sight of a freely hanging corpse, hanging by its neck with a chair next to it, the legs up in the air, greeted them. In the back, a safe was built into the wall. George felt his pocket and took out the packet of paper; it was too much of a coincidence…

Propelled by the curiosity, George moved past the group and walked up to the safe. The letters on the circular button pad matched those of the combinations in the packet. Something useful might be in this safe, something that could help them escape. At random, George picked a combination and entered it. A disappointing beep signified that he entered the wrong one. Frustrated, but determined, George picked another and another trying every combination in order, hoping that at least one of the thirty-something combinations was to this safe.

Behind George, the others were looting the room, Cindy taking some more herbs to replenish the ones she used for George's medicine. David was in the bathroom with Mark, hoping to dislodge a pipe or a shower handle or something that could be used as a weapon.

George growled, not finding the right combination was taking a taxing toll on his patience. He jammed the buttons with each new code, knowing that it wouldn't help him find the right combination, but it made him feel better. Finally, the beep changed and a green light flashed on the combination lock. George stepped back, his hands in the air, he let out a satisfied, surprised cry.

Inside, the safe held only a small silver key, probably going to some doors around the inn, or someone's personal luggage. Regardless, George pocketed the key and hoped that the other safes would be easier to crack.

"What'd you find there?" Cindy asked as she stood up and brushed the dirt from the pots from her hands.

"Some key, I'm not sure what it goes to, but I think it might go to some of the doors around here." George knew he was being hopeful, but at least they had something to work with. "I think we should get out of here quickly though, I don't like the idea of whatever is out there to get the jump on us."

Cindy frowned, hoping to hear him say that they could stay a little longer, but also realizing that they didn't have much time to waste. She conceded that it was a good idea and headed to the door with the 

other two in tow. David was the first through the door, with the shotgun aimed down the hall, where the noises came from. He made his way up the hall, moving every inch begrudgingly. As they reached the corner, David slowed even further, fearing to see what was behind the corner, fearing it might be more than just a zombie. With his back flat against the wall, he peered around the corner.

Nothing.

There was nothing, not a single living creature, not even a rat. Confused, David stepped out around the corner and looked around, but still couldn't find anything. George walked up to the door at the end of the hall and found it locked, but it had a silver relief under the doorknob. George reached for his pocket, but stopped when he felt something wet hit his shoulder. He looked over and saw a sticky clear liquid running down his jacket. With his eyes closed, he calmed his nerves and tilted his head up with his eyes still closed. Inwardly groaning, George opened his eyes, his eyes going wide at the sight above him. It looked like a man who had just been skinned was crawling on the ceiling, his shoulder blades elongated, providing a sort of natural armor. The tongue was what caught George's breath in his lungs though, it stretched out about three to five feet, wrapping around the ceiling, feeling along the rafters, and prodding the air. The exposed brain pulsated as the head moved, exploring its surroundings.

A small cry escaped his throat, as George stood frozen staring at the creature above him. It stopped moving, and looked right at him. Had it just noticed him? Why couldn't it see him before? Where were its eyes? Questions flooded in his mind, trying to keep his mind sane with the sight he was seeing. He was reeling, trying to make everything work in his mind. Hands wrapped around his waist and yanked him backwards as the tongue dove into the floor below, leaving a mark in the floor like a knife.

The creature moved like a spider, crying out and moving down the wall in sharp, rapid jerky movements. How were they going to survive? The creature blocked the door, the only door that led to safety.


	11. Chapter 11

Huge claws clicked as the monster slowly made its way down the door and to the wooden floor below. All four survivors backed away slowly, with David in the front brandishing the shotgun at the monster. Accidentally, David let off a shot, missing the creature by a vast distance. The creature hunched back on its hind legs, its back arching like a cat ready to pounce. Instead of pouncing, its tongue shot out lightning quick, slashing at David's leg. A small puddle of blood formed below; where David's leg was slashed open by the creature's razor sharp tongue.

David's face went ashen, the blood quickly draining from his face; he looked as if he might pass out at any time. Mark snapped back into his senses, grabbing the shotgun from David's hands and aiming at the creature. A single shot, followed by the pump of the shotgun and another shot rang out in succession. Brain and other organic matter sprayed the wall behind and consequently the door too. The creature let out an ear-shattering shriek as it flipped on its back and twitched violently in quick jerking spasms.

David leaned against the wall and slid to the floor. "Am…am I infected?" His voice was sullen and hollow.

"David, we don't even know how the infection is spread, that thing may not even be able to spread it, and it may not even be a carrier." George tried to sound optimistic, but in the course of his studies, he knew that in all likelihood, David was infected and with a new disease like this, there probably wasn't much they could do. George put his hand on David's shoulder. "Even if you do get infected, we can find a cure, I know we can."

His words were riddled with lies and half-truths, but none rivaled George's bedside manner. David put on the best grin he could muster and, with Mark's help staggered back onto his feet. "Thanks Doc." David gave George a pat on his shoulder before taking the shotgun back from Mark.

"Do you need something for that?" George asked, pointing to his wound.

"Nah, it's only a flesh wound."

George took his answer without pause and walked up to the door. Fishing around in his pocket, George took out the silver key he had gotten from the safe in the other room. It fit perfectly into the lock, when turned the tumblers fell into place and there was a tiny _click_ as the door unlocked.

Outside, the hallway was lit ablaze, but like the rest of the building was burning slowly. To their left the hallway continued around, past pockets of fire still vying for life, and to their right, the hallway ended with a door leading to what looked like the courtyard they had come from.

"This must be where the others came in at." Cindy said, looking out the window. Mark nodded and walked up to the door to look outside. When he was satisfied that it was in fact where the others had come in at, he came back. George frowned, not sure, what they had gained from going the way they had gone, except that Cindy almost died, his leg was injured, and David could now potentially be infected and could die. An overwhelming sense of guilt flushed through his system, it was his fault that they had come this way, it was his fault that they all could've died or could die yet for suggesting that they take both routes.

"Everyone, I'm truly sorry that we had gone that way for nothing, I wish I had never put you all in harm's way." George didn't really believe his words, he wasn't the one who almost died, he wasn't the one who was infected, possibly infected he corrected himself. He sighed, waiting for the blame to come, waiting for them to yell at him, hit him. Nothing came.

"Look, we couldn't have known there was nothing from that way, we looked and found nothing, except that key of course." David was the one who spoke up. "We just have to find the others now, that's all."

David started down the hallway without letting George interject, until he came to a stop before some wooden planks placed haphazardly on the floor, covering a gaping hole. Fire boiled up through the spaces in the wood planks, possibly other planks that had been burned away. Intellectually, George couldn't help but wonder if there was any other way past this hole; he wondered if there was any other way to get to the other side of the hall. Finding nothing else that could get them across, George had to consent to the validity of the option.

Mark was the first to go this time. He tested the boards to make sure they could hold his girth. The planks seemed sturdy enough to hold him, so he ran across when the flames had died down. George was the next to go, having an easy time getting across, and was closely followed by Cindy. As David went to cross the planks, they started to bent and crack. David wobbled, trying to steady his balance on the planks as they twisted and shook under his weight. They must've just given out after the others had 

used them; they had taken all they could take. Mark's hand thrust out and took hold of David's wrist yanking him off the planks just before they collapsed to the ground below.

"Alright come on." David didn't take time to panic or catch his breath; he was beyond the surprises of life-and-death. He brushed past Mark and continued down the hall, stopping only to shoot a zombie with the shotgun. They walked through the hall, ignoring the doors and found themselves facing a set of stairs. "I guess the only way is to go up."

"Seems about right." Mark chimed in as he followed David up the stairs. The stairs creaked under foot as they ascended, walking first to the second floor. The second floor seemed bare, a few rooms, but significantly less than the first floor. Most of the doors led to rooms, but two were different, one led to a set of stairs leading to the third floor and the first and the other was, the security room. "Probably our best bet is in here."

Mark was the first into the security room, passing through the doorway and walking up to the computer monitors. Having experience in security, Mark tried to look through the records, but found them illegible due to poor bookkeeping. He cursed as he threw the books back on the table. David was looking through the door on the other side of the room.

"Hey, hey, hey. Take a look at this. It seems the others were already here." David said as he moved to the side showing them the entire hallway they had come into from the fire escape. "Must've unlocked the door and gone down stairs."

"Yeah, they're either lost, or have found something useful." George said absent mindedly, staring at a statue in the back. "Why is there a statue in this room?"

"Not too sure, never seen a statue in any other security room, though." Mark said, walking up to George and standing next to him. George moved past the table in the middle of the room and up to the statue, rubbing the empty hole where something used to fit. He took a cursory glance around the room before his eyes rested on the bookcase next to him. "Something is wrong with this."

Mark took in the bookcase and then onto the ground. "Scuff marks, its been moved."

Mark leaned against the bookcase and started to push it, it slid easily on the tiled floor. As he moved it, the shape of a door began to become clear. The bookcase hit the wall next to the statue, completely revealing the doorway behind the bookcase. "What'd you make of that?" Mark asked, backing away so all could see.

"I suppose it's like a quick escape route, probably for the security officers in case of…some sort of attack?" George was purely speculating, but with the recent alarms against terrorist attacks everyone in Raccoon City was preparing for the worst, he supposed this was the inn's way of preparing. "I guess the guards wanted a way out and they got it, I'll bet it leads back to the lobby though. We need to find a way to open it, and if logic tells us, it probably has something to do with the statue. Something must need to fit in there."

George looked around, but no one gave him anything else to work with. He traced the hole with his index finger before turning to the others. "We have to find whatever goes in here."

"And how do you propose we find that?" David asked, skeptical.

"We just have to…look for it, that's all we can do." George said, hoping that they'd agree this was their only chance.

"I don't know about just lookin', but these papers might mean somethin'. They say that somethin' was moved to a room on the third floor, it might be a place to start." Mark said, putting the papers back on the table. George thought it was a long shot, but it was worth a try, they didn't have much to go on and the building was still on fire.

"So, the third floor it is." George said as he took one final look at the statue that either would hold their salvation or would waste enough time to get them all killed in this God forsaken place.


	12. Chapter 12

"Alright, but there's two ways up to the third floor, two sets of stairs. Which one should we go up?" Cindy asked, standing closest to the door that led back the way they had come.

"I don't think that the one over here," David said, pointing to the area where the stairs that they found near the security room would be "Is any good because it was filled with smoke, probably a bad idea."

"I agree we should stick to the stairs we came up at." Mark chimed in.

"Okay, so we'll just go back and go up the stairs we came up, sounds good to me." George clapped his hands, walking towards the door. David, Cindy, and Mark stared at each other, exchanging a silent conversation.

"Uh…yeah, listen George, you can't come." David started. "You're injured, plus we need someone to stay and wait for the others."

"What, no." George was shocked, shock that they'd even consider leaving him here. "Look, I won't get in the way, I'll be okay. We don't need anyone to stay either, we'll be gone, what a couple of minutes?"

"That's not the point, look just stay here, alright?" David was pleading with George, hoping he'd listen to reason.

"I'll stay here with him, make sure he stays." Cindy said with a sigh, she still felt guilty that he was hurt because of her. "You two go look and we'll stay here."

Mark and David nodded and walked up to George. "We might need that key."

Mark held out his hand, waiting for George to hand over the key. Reluctantly, George took it out of his pocket and placed it in Mark's open palm. The two turned and left the room without further conversation.

George plopped down in a computer chair next to some terminals. "I guess I'm kind of useless right now right?"

Cindy frowned, "That's not it, and it's just…well you're hurt, you can't deny that it slows you down a bit. Being slowed even a little bit, might get you killed. You're one of the most valuable people right now, you're a doctor."

"Eh, I'll be better when we get to the hospital. I'll be able to at least do some things after that."

Cindy put her hand on his shoulder, giving him a silent squeeze for strength. She moved past him and started to look over some papers on the table, she hoped he was going to be all right. Suddenly, the monitors flicked on, pictures slowly coming into focus.

"Whoa, what's this?" George asked, turning in the chair towards the monitors. Cindy walked up behind him, leaning on the back of the chair with her hands. The monitors showed the inn, different pictures flicking off to be replaced by another section of the inn every few seconds. George's jaw dropped when the screen flicked to the hallway where that skinless creature was. The other four people were clumped together, near the door adjacent to the silver key door. "They're alive, that's great!"

"Yeah, but what're they doing?" Cindy asked, pointing to Kevin who was the last one coming out of the door.

"I guess they found some sort of key, that's probably why they went down there." George smiled as he laughed with relief that the others were alive as well. Suddenly, two muffled shots rang out. George searched the other group, but none shot a single shot. "Must be David and Mark, I can't tell where they are though, I don't know how to work this."

"Well, we have to try; we need to know if they need help." Cindy said, reaching over George's shoulder and pressing buttons at random. The screens flashed, but didn't change. "Alright, we need to find them; I don't want to know they died."

"I…I don't know, what if they just ran into some zombies, we've been there when David shot some zombies before, maybe that's all it is." George knew he was reaching, but he couldn't help but want her to calm down, want her to feel fine. He went to stand up, but Cindy put her hand on his shoulder.

"No, let me just go check on them and I'll come back okay?" Cindy didn't wait for a reply; she was already heading out the door before George could protest. As the door slammed shut, George looked back on the monitor and noticed that the others weren't in the hall anymore. He reasoned that they were on their way back to the security room, he could tell them what happened.

George sighed and swiveled in the chair, waiting for either group t return. He felt useless, he just wanted this whole nightmare to be over, he wanted them all to be alive and in the comfort of some agency, a bunch of men in black coats handing them coffee and blankets. George longed for the comfort of knowing that he didn't have to turn around every few seconds to see if something was going to try to eat him.

It would be bliss to just know that his family was alive and well, to just know that they had made it out before the whole incident started. Maybe be lying on a beach somewhere, sipping a cold drink with the others. He laughed at the notion, he had just met these people, and he was already fantasizing about being somewhere other than here with them. What was it they called that? Bonding over a common trauma. It didn't matter; he just needed to be out of this wretched place.

The door to the security room opened and Kevin walked over the threshold. He had is forty-five in his hand, dried blood covering both forearms and splatters on his chest. Kevin stopped short after giving enough room for the others to come in.

"Where's everyone else, tell me you're not the only one here." Kevin's voice was soaked with concern.

"As far as I know they're alright, they didn't let me go with them, told me to wait here." George paused before continuing. "Can't let the injured man slow them down."

"You were bit?" Alyssa asked from behind Kevin, it was more of an accusation than a question; she had a pistol in her hand at the ready.

"No, no, I dislocated my leg and had to relocate it. I'll be needing to go to the hospital, but I should be alright after some rest." George hoped that they weren't considering leaving him because of his injuries, but he couldn't ascertain their motives. Kevin sighed, putting his pistol away before approaching George.

"So, where'd they go?"

"Somewhere on the third floor, Cindy was here with me but we heard them shooting and she went to check on them. There's an exit there." George pointed to the door they had found. "I think it leads to the lobby, we just need to find the thing that opens it."

"Well, what're we waiting here for?"

"That's the thing, they went to the third floor to find the thing that opens it, and we think it might be in a room up there." George suddenly felt tired; he didn't want to have to explain everything to them. He gave a dismissing wave with his hand. "They'll be back soon."

As if on cue, Cindy opened the door, followed by David and Mark. Mark had a red jewel in his hand and walked over to the statue without saying anything. David stood with his arms folded; Cindy walked over to George and leaned on the table with the monitors, watching Mark. The red jewel slipped in easily.

At first, nothing happened, but a few moments later, the floor vibrated and the door slid open. Mark turned around and let out a self-satisfied moan. He stepped through, not waiting for the others. George slowly got up, with help from Cindy and walked over to the opening.

Inside, they were right above where they had come in, how could they not have noticed this? There was a little ladder in the center of the room, a blinking light waiting for someone to push it. George walked with his arm draped over Cindy's shoulder, looking around at the bare upper floor. He descended a small 

set of stairs in the middle of the floor and followed the railing to the left towards the ladder. Kevin had already pushed the button by the time they had reached the ladder. Rust scratched off the surface causing flakes of metal to fall to the lobby below, a small pile congregating in a circular pile. The ladder clanked as it unfurled to the floor below.

George climbed down the ladder with great difficulty, favoring his left leg when he put his weight down. He let out a groan when he finally felt the solid carpeting underfoot. Yoko was the last down, everyone stood waiting for her, and they had formed an unspoken pact with each other.

Jim began walking for the front door gingerly, eager to escape the fire-ridden building. Suddenly, something shot out of the roof above Jim; he jumped down on the ground to avoid being hit. A red skinless creature, much like the one that had cut David was hanging upside down from the ceiling, a long rope like tongue swirling around in the air.

David brought up his shotgun and let off a shot, most of the pellets hitting the walls. He went to shoot again, but instead heard only the sounds of the unloaded gun. David cursed and threw the shotgun aside, looking around on the floor for something else to use.

The creature roared in anger. Everyone was in shock, Jim scrambled behind the monster, hoping it didn't notice him. Unfortunately, it started to turn around, using its legs to turn towards Jim. He cried out in fear, screaming for someone to help. George's eyes shot around, hoping to find some way to help the man. He looked at the desk, seeing something that made him move without thinking about the pain. In a few strides, George closed the distance; he rested his arms on the table and slammed his hand down on the buzzer. A loud ringing erupted in the lobby, filling it with an obnoxious noise that distracted everyone. The creature stopped moving and cried out, turning back towards the others and flailing its tongue around, hoping to stop the noise.

Mark wasted no time, he took aim at the creature, and shot, finding it hard to hit the head he hit its back. The creature wiggled, trying to avoid being hit again, but it did little good, and Mark let off another shot hitting it near the same area. It was all going better than they could hope for, the creature was pinned and Mark was doing a good job of keeping it at bay.

As Mark let off a third shot, two high-pitched roars sounded. George's eyes darted around the room, looking for whatever caused the roars. From the ceiling, two more of those creatures that they killed earlier dropped to the floor, their tongues licking the air and started to go towards George at the desk.

"Hey…hey! Help!" George cried out, hitting the buzzer one more time as the noise died down. The creatures were drawn towards the buzzer, but George couldn't stop hitting it or else Jim was going to die. He tried to scramble onto the desk, but the creatures were already on top of him, hissing, and looking at the buzzer with interest. The tongues danced on the desk, creeping up on George's thigh, he pulled it away before one of the tongues touched his leg, but he was running out of desk. The buzzer died down again and the creatures went wild, their claws clicking on the ground, searching for where the noise went.

The one hanging from the ceiling let out a motherly cry, calling her young to her aid. Instinctually, they heeded her call, forming a protective barrier around her.

"I can't shoot her if they're there!" Mark screamed at George as the creatures moved to attack him. George leaned over and slammed his hand on the buzzer once more, the noise clanging to life once more. The creatures stopped moving and ran towards the buzzer. George quickly retreated a few feet as the creatures jumped onto the table, clicking over the desk. He wanted to cry for help, but his voice was caught in his throat. They were slowly gaining ground against him, moving closer and closer with each heart beat.

They were only a few inches away now, closer than was needed to hit him with that tongue of theirs. He could see the brain pulsating, calculating where he had gone and where the noise was coming from. Saliva dripped from their long fangs, preparing for the meal ahead. The closest's claw touched down right before hitting George's leg. Sweat lined George's brow, inaudible noises escaped his throat, but were stifled from the buzzer. He could see the tongue rolling out of a cavity in the back of its throat, relishing the opportunity to be free from its captivity. The tongue poked its way out of the creature's mouth and floated in the air slowly, making its way around George's head, touching the wall behind him mere centimeters from the side of his face. It was searching for him, and would find him in seconds.

This was it, he was going to die and everyone was just standing there, he couldn't see them anymore, his vision became fully focused on the creature before him. Its red skin filled the recesses of his mind, mockingly dancing before him, and the color of the blood that was going to stain the creature's teeth once they sank into his flesh. George could already feel the fangs in him he shivered with the idea. The 

other creature was on him too, touching the wall on the other side of his face. It was like he felt their saliva against his cold skin, tears stained his cheeks. George closed his eyes, ready for the inevitable.

Before the tongue touched him, the creatures let out their high-pitched shrill. No, this was different. It sounded painful; he could hear the pain in their cries. George's eyes sprung open, the creatures before him, smoking and burnt. David and Cindy stood with pipes next to the desk, batteries attached to the pipes with copper wire wrapped around both. A smile spread across George's face, realizing that they were just making some weapons to help him out of his situation.

Rapture encompassed his body; he let it take him over. His entire soul was given up; he welcomed the peace and the bliss. He let himself go as the blackness took over, sounds melted away in one single moment of powerful longing. Then everything stopped.


	13. Chapter 13

He knew he was alive, yet nothing worked. Screaming yielded no sound, opening his eyes was futile; he couldn't see anything, not even his hands. He put his hands forward groping through the darkness, but it felt weird. Almost as if he took a step and found no ground, the feeling in the pit of his stomach was only matched by the tingle rising up from his feet. He could feel the heat rising in his face.

Mentally he chanted repeatedly to stay calm, to stay cool, and to stay collected. He had to keep rational; he knew this was somehow related to his injuries, but he couldn't be certain. Being rational, might save his life, but in the dark void he was floating in, nothing he knew was real, nothing he felt was real…he wasn't real.

Suddenly, he heard a voice. He turned his head, but couldn't hold on to it, he hadn't understood it and he wanted so badly to know whom it was. A second voice, something inaudible, something important. It became his whole purpose of living just to know what these two people were saying.

Two.

Two? How could he possibly know it was two people? What evidence was there that it was two people, maybe there're more, or maybe it's only one person. He couldn't remember anything prior to the emptiness, so maybe he knew someone, or maybe they were his friends.

Friends. The notion seemed simple, but somehow foreign to him. Did he have friends? Were they there for him? No, he knew it was two people, at least. The voices weren't the same, they didn't sound the same, he hoped.

Again, someone said something. He could almost hear it, something about time. Time. What about time? Did someone just ask about the time? Could it be that simple? Didn't they know he was there, didn't they care? How could his friends be that cruel to him, how could they just act like he wasn't there, wasn't somehow alive and listening to them talk nonchalantly.

No, no, he couldn't let his irrational fears and aspirations get the better of him, not in here, not in this prison. Think, he needed to think, to ascertain where he was. Obviously, not his present location, but he had to remember. Remember what he was doing, where he was before whatever happened to him, happened to him.

Wait. What was that? He smelled something, something making him gag. A pungent odor, it smelled like ammonia. His stomach curdled, he was going to throw up, and he could feel his abdomen contract, trying to force the bile back up his esophagus. It wouldn't work, it wouldn't come out, the feeling just stayed there, lingering like some sort of shadow haunting him.

Instantly, he felt invigorated, he felt alive and yet, groggy. Pain seeped into the cracks of the empty prison, his mind began racing. He felt his eyes try to open; he felt the lids cling to each other like mother and child. From somewhere close by, he heard a moan someone was in pain.

He felt something holding him down, something constricting his body. It felt like someone wrapped him up. His mind raced, and he realized that he was moving his leg, somehow he was moving his leg. He heard the moan again, but it was louder. Sounds enveloped his ears, throwing them into pandemonium. Beeps and whistles followed by more beeps. He absent mindedly followed the noise, seeking it as a sort of refuge from the darkness and the emptiness. It was his only link to humanity.

Slowly, he navigated the invisible maze, following only the sounds of the beeps. Softly, the sound of someone sniffling permeated the beeps. He could hear someone crying, or so he thought. A sudden jolt sent him flying, crashing into an invisible wall.

Light slowly crept into the darkness, he could see the outlines of his hands. Heat flashed over him, it was like he was walking into a volcano. His hands were sweating, his brow drawn in consternation, trying to find his way out, pushing past the heat.

Walls dripped into focus, part by part. Red, red-chipped paint, he could feel the heat brushing against his skin, what looked like flames licking at his feet. He tried to move but he was wrapped up, constrained somehow. Two shadows lay on the ground at his feet, motionless, dead.

They came into focus about the time the ringing did. An alarm and a ladder off in the distance, they seemed familiar but he couldn't place them. His tongue was dry and thick; the heat must have sapped all of his strength and made him dehydrated. He turned to either side of him; it hurt to move anything.

As he moved, his hand hit something small. He picked it up, turning it as he looked. It was a pocketknife, a pocketknife? Where did he get that? He couldn't remember, should he remember?

The pungent scent crashed into his skull again, forcing the same alertness as before, but with the same groggy after effect. The place around him shuttered for an instant before falling heavily back into place. He knew where he had gotten the knife; someone gave it to him. Whom, he couldn't remember, but at least he had something to work with.

Painfully, he got off the desk he was laying on. The two figures were still blurred out, but he knew that they were bad, something intensely dangerous. For some reason they weren't moving and for some reason everything was either vibrantly in color, or dulled out. Certain things weren't clear, but one thing was. This wasn't real.

Frustration and annoyance suddenly overcame him. He rubbed his eyes and passed his hand through his hair, trying to figure out how to get out of here. The area was familiar, but for the life of him, he couldn't remember where. Not to mention the fact that even if he knew where he was, he wouldn't know how to get out of where he was. Half of the room, he couldn't even discern and the other half wasn't much more than red-chipped paint and fire. He wished the ringing would stop, he wished whoever was crying would stop.

He let out a frustrated growl, wishing he could remember. Something was keeping him from remembering, something was keeping him in here. He had to know, he had to see what was beyond the blur. With a heave, he stood up from the desk and started out towards the blurred areas to his left. Passing the ladder, he turned again, moving to the blurred out regions of the room.

A sudden jolt of pain shot through his entire body, stopping him in his tracks. It felt as if all of his bones exploded in an instant, he stood mute, transfixed by the pain. Each labored step more painful than the last, but he had to go on; he had to ignore the pain. The pain threatened to force him to collapse, but he had to keep going. He wouldn't make it, he knew but at least he tried. Something was coming into focus, spurning him on farther.

Faster he traveled, the pain easing slowly. It was some sort of opening, a doorway. He walked through the empty corridor, getting closer and closer to the door. His movements became less labored, he was able to move faster, catching up on the moving opening. As he got closer, he could start to make out the 

shape of a doorway. It was a door, a door meant an exit, and an exit meant freedom. He only needed to get to the doorway. Light flooded around the perimeter of the doorway, a welcoming embrace of freedom. His hand finally rested on the doorknob, turning it slowly, he pushed open the door.

The stinging light burned his eyes. George moaned and groaned as the stained off white ceiling came into view. His hands were safely tucked underneath a tightly wrapped blanket. It wasn't painful to move anymore, George untucked his hands and placed them on top of his chest. He could still hear the beeping, but it wasn't nearly as monotonous and annoying as it was before. Everything was alive, the air felt stuffy and damp, but it was better than sensing nothing like before.

George rolled his head to the side and saw Cindy sitting next to his bed, her eyes red and puffy.

"Well, look who's awake. I'm glad you finally decided to rejoin us here in the living." She tried her best to laugh, but George knew it was forced. "We, uh, brought you here to the hospital when you passed out on us, we weren't sure if you'd make it. Doctor Hursh says you were pretty well dehydrated and coupling that with the over exertion you put yourself through, when…rescuing me sent you into a mini-coma."

"Wait…Hursh? Hursh is here?" George asked, his hopes perked.

"Yeah, he set you up like this, you owe him a lot of thanks." She dabbed her eyes with a tissue she was holding.

"So, at least he's alive…" George trailed off, glad that someone he knew was still alive in this hellhole.

"Yeah, well I'm just glad you're alive, that's all." Cindy started to stand up, but George placed a hand on top of hers.

"Cindy, thank you. I really mean it, if you all weren't here for me, I would have died, died in the fire."

"George, I know, if you weren't there I wouldn't be here to help you." She placed her other hand on top of his before pulling them both away and standing up and walking to the boarded up window. "You were out cold for nearly an hour, some of the others were contemplating striking out to find some more adequate help, but I convinced them to stay. That it was better if we were all here and so when you woke up, we could all just leave together."

"So, where are they?" George had wondered why it was only her there with him, but he had his suspicions why.

"They're out scouting the hospital, making sure it's as safe as it seems." She turned quickly; realization was etched on her face. "I should really tell them you're awake, they'll want to know."

Before Cindy could even start walking, Kevin burst into the room. "You're up, good. We have to go _now_."


	14. Chapter 14

Kevin's face was flushed and he was drenched in sweat. He wiped his brow, watching the two in the room, expecting them to jump when he finished talking.

"Let's go!" He screamed once more, trying to spur them on.

"W…well," George started, looking at Cindy, just as confused as she, "what's going on?"

"They're everywhere, come on." Kevin waved them on and shut the door. George took one last look at Cindy before jumping out of bed in fright. They were in the hospital?

It took him a few seconds, but he noticed Cindy's face went scarlet and she diverted her eyes. George looked down, his own face turning red; he felt his face get hot. He was standing in only his underwear. Instantly, his hands shot out, attempting to cover as much of himself as possible.

"…Right, I'll uh…give you some time to get yourself dressed." Cindy said, stifling a giggle and passing through the room to the door. By this time, George had taken the blanket and draped it over his mostly naked body. He mentally cursed himself for being so rash and jumping out of bed, of course he would be in his underwear, he was lucky he wasn't naked. Hursh had to professionally re-set his leg meaning he had to have unrestricted access to his leg. The clothes would just be in the way.

It was then that he realized that there was little pain on the leg that had been dislocated. George tested it out and was satisfied with the results; Hursh was a good doctor. Still reeling from the embarrassment of being caught mostly naked by Cindy, George reached for his clothes that were in a bin at the foot of the bed and began dressing himself.

Time was of the essence, these people had already wasted enough time getting him to the hospital, and luckily, Hursh was here to help him out. George couldn't worry about those things though, they had to move on and find a way out of the city. The door creaked open as George finished buttoning his vest, Hursh walked in with a solemn look on his face.

"We need to find a way out of the hospital, but the elevators had to be shut down in order to get all the electronics working for you, so I have to go reroute the electricity now. I was just coming in here to see how you were doing George." Hursh's deep English accent was apparent. He had moved to England from India, as many of England's immigrants do but he didn't stay long after getting his M.D. at Oxford. Hursh needed to find a place to work, and he wanted out of England to come to America. For some reason, he chose to come to an out-of-the-way place like Raccoon City, said he'd had enough of the big city life in England. Regardless, Hursh was one of the best physicians in this hospital, George was glad he had a friend here.

"I'm great Hursh, I have no idea how you did it, but my leg is feeling great." George was astounded, with the little equipment Hursh must've had, he couldn't think how Hursh had managed to make his leg feel so normal again.

"Well, that plumber had done what was necessary to get the bone back in place, but it wasn't quite there, I merely moved it slightly over to the right." Hursh paused a moment, considering if he should tell George the rest. "Also, I had to use a lot of localized anesthetic."

George had thought he would, but there was something he wasn't telling him. "And?"

"I had to use morphine, and in the state you were in, the pain was sending you into a mini coma, so we had to use a lot."

"How much is a lot?"

"Enough to get the job done. You might start to get a little loopy and when this is all over, you will have major withdraw, but you'll be alive okay?"

"If", George corrected as he threw his arms into their respective holes in his jacket, "If I get out of this. Thanks Hursh, I'll buy you a beer if we get out of this."

"Make it a nice hard Scotch and you've got a deal." Hursh turned and left through the door. George buttoned the top two buttons on his jacket and started to walk to the door. Before he could open the door, Alyssa burst through the door in a huff.

"Are you done yet? We need to get out of here and we're all waiting on you."

"Yes, I'm finished in here, let's get a move on." George said, following the agitated woman through the door. Outside, he could see the group of survivors all bundled together in one large gaggle in a small space outside of his room, near over turned wheelchairs and piles of crutches. To George's left the hallway went back behind his room and to a set of stairs that was covered by a large metal grate, with a single zombie banging longingly on the grate. Next to the stairs was another sick room and a hallway covered by another metal grate. In front of him were the rusted elevator and the control room for the floor. He watched Hursh say something to Kevin and then exit into the control room. George shuddered as cold air blasted onto him from above, the ventilation shaft was blowing out cold air at full speed.

Quickly, George rejoined the silent huddle and Kevin started to speak. "Alright, Doctor Hursh is going to turn the power back on. He told me that we should look around for any supplies that might be useful, and to watch out for anything that could be hiding in the rooms or the hallways. Apparently, this hospital was just evacuated and not thoroughly checked, there may be more survivors, and there may be more creatures out there."

"So, basically this could be a walk in the park or an all-out fight for our lives…great." Jim said, folding his arms and backing up to the wall.

Kevin disregarded Jim's interruption and continued. "So, before Doctor Hursh can turn the power back on, we should scavenge anything useful we can find anything that can be used as a weapon or some band aids for all I care."

Everyone nodded and left in separate directions, looking for anything that could help them. George began walking down the hallway, towards the other sick room. Usually the staff would store random items they would need for a patient in the rooms, in lockers for when they would need them. He thought that there might be something in one of the lockers in the room.

George heard the distinct sound of Cindy's heels clicking on the marble floor as she jogged to catch up with him. "So, how're you feeling?"

Cindy's kindness brought a smile to his face. "I'm a lot better now, thanks to Doctor Hursh and you."

"Me? I didn't do anything but sit there, helpless."

"Oh, you argued for them to stay, and more importantly you stayed by the bed. You know, studies suggest that a person in a coma can hear everything around them, and usually, it's the sound of a loved one, or a good friend that brings them out of the coma." George said as they rounded the corner.

"So…you uh heard things then?" Cindy looked down at the floor.

"Sadly, I could never remember my dreams." George smiled and opened the door, motioning for Cindy to go in first. "Ladies first."

"Why thank you." Cindy walked into the room and flicked on the lights. The primary electricity still wasn't on, so the backup generator had the lights on a dimmer, providing enough light to maneuver around in, but not really adequate for anything more than that.

George felt along the smooth metal of the foot of the closest bed until it suddenly dipped away. He measured with a keen efficiency the area of the room from his memory. In a few steps, he felt the second bed, following it along until its end. From his memory, he remembered that there were only two beds in each room, meaning he was near the wall opposite of the door. The locker should be to his left somewhere.

With both hands, George ventured from the bed and into the unknown, feeling for the locker. He closed the distance quickly; his fingers encountered the semi-cold metal locker. Quickly, he brushed his hands across the doors, finding the crease in the middle where the ends of both doors met. Following it down, he found both handles and tore the doors open, inside he could barely see, but all of the shelves had been torn through already, nothing left at all. As he turned to shut the door, something caught George's 

eye. At the bottom of the locker, something dark jutted out oddly from underneath a few papers. George crouched down and moved the papers revealing more of the object. A handle started to come into view and then a barrel. A wicked grin appeared on George's face as he pulled out a pistol from the locker. With this, the firepower would be spread out a bit more throughout the group, the more people with guns the better off they were.

He stood in silence and showed his find to Cindy. Her face lit up just as much as George's had when he found the pistol. In the stillness, he shared a look with Cindy, but something seemed wrong. He couldn't place it, but something was definitely wrong. It was quiet, quieter than it should be.

Why was it quiet? Something should be noisy and George knew it, but what he couldn't figure out. Then it hit him, George felt the metal bed again, it was warm. He felt the locker again; it too was warm. Why wasn't the air conditioner on like it was outside?

Suddenly the lights flicked on, the contrast from the dim lights to the very bright ones, made George shield his eyes. George rubbed his eyes subconsciously, peering out every so often to help acclimate his pupils to the new level of light exposure. In his blindness, George could hear the scraping of metal overhead, something was moving. He forced his eyes open, looking around the room quickly, scared at whatever it was that was moving above them.

Cindy clung to George's jacket as he moved his new weapon around like a shield. From right above the door they had come in, the cover for the ventilation shaft fell to the ground as a black ball fell from the duct. Instinctually, George pulled the trigger, but only heard a disappointing _click_. He took a glance at the gun before pinning it to his stomach with his waistband on his pants.

The black ball began to move and elongate, forming a sort of humanoid figure before their eyes. The black blob moved as if it were made up of individual parts all forming to a hive mentality, collecting against a single entity.

After a few seconds, George's heart stammered, the thing stretched to its full height, revealing the two human legs beneath. Leeches, that was what they were, leeches. The leeches fell and climbed back up the legs to rejoin the others. With arms stretched out, the leech covered man hobbled towards the two people standing in complete fright.


	15. Chapter 15

George's eyes went wide with terror, he could see the blood soaked hands clawing at the air as the leech covered man hobbled towards both he and Cindy. Then something caught his eye, his body moved on its own and he ducked down. His shoulder lowered itself, positioning itself properly. Like a spring, his leg cocked back and crunched together, readying itself. Behind him, Cindy ducked down, covering her head.

Two lance-like rows of leeches exploded overhead, the leeches formed a quasi bridge like structure branching out over the man's arms. In a heartbeat, George pushed off with his leg, slamming his shoulder hard against the living shield of leeches. Blood and puss exploded from the leeches he hit with his shoulder, three loud squishing noises filled the still air. The leechman staggered backwards, giving George enough time to haul Cindy onto her feet and run past the leechman.

George slammed shut the door behind him, holding it closed long enough for Cindy to grab a broom and place it between the handle and the wall, pinning it closed. He let out a relieved sigh when the broom was firmly in place. George put his head against the wall next to the door; recovering from the fright that monster had caused him.

_What is going on in this place? _George tried to collect his thoughts, but he was having a difficult time. Cindy put her hand on his shoulder and George looked up. The others walked slowly up the hallway, some with their heads hung low.

"He…he didn't make it, some…_thing_ got him." David managed. "I saw him die."

"No…" Was all George could say, his friend was dead, the man who had saved his life…dead. This city was slowly sapping all of the life out of George, if the monsters didn't kill him, depression surely would take its turn. He couldn't let the death of a good friend stop him from living though, Hursh wouldn't want to be the cause of George's death too. He gave the wall a slight bang and walked away from the door. "It must've been that leech thing that attacked us. Did he get the elevators working?"

Kevin gave a silent nod as George passed by. The elevator seemed dirtier to George now as he pushed the button for down. With a beep, the elevator doors rolled open and George walked in, followed by the other seven people. To George's dismay, when he went to push the button for the second floor basement, only four buttons were lit up.

"Shit…" George sighed and hit his head against the panel.

"What?" Yoko asked, trying to look over Mark's considerable gait.

"Since he had to reroute the power, the elevators shut off. When the elevators shut off, they reset to basic functions, the required floors. Usually, this elevator can take us straight to the basement floor and the rooftop, but after a power shortage, they need to be unlocked again from the first floor basement. Normally, that would be fine, but the only person who knows all of the passwords is the chief security officer." George watched as the elevator doors closed. "I don't know if he's still here or if he's alive at all."

"He should have them written down somewhere, isn't that standard protocol?" Alyssa's asked it wasn't so much of a question as an accusation.

"This guy was always paranoid that someone was trying to take his job, he wanted to make sure his job was secure. I'd be surprised if he wrote the passwords down, and if someone forced him to, he would have written them down in some way that only he would be able to figure it out."

David reached around George and pushed the first floor basement button. "Then we just have to figure it out, don't we?"

The elevator shuttered to a start, a constant grinding was their only company on the short-lived elevator ride. With a jolt, the elevator ground to a halt and the doors slid open. To their right, a small rolling table was positioned into the corner of the hallway, with a blue plant on top. Cindy instantly took out her case and cut the plant off at the base before placing it neatly in her case. George looked around and was astonished at how neat the place was. It didn't look like much had happened down here and that was a good sign to George.

Kevin shot George a quick glance. George understood his meaning and pointed to a room down the hall a short distance. In a light jog, Kevin quickly made his way to the room, followed by David and Mark. George slipped away from the rest of the group, walking down the hall past the security room he 

pointed out to Kevin. At the end of the hall was another door that led to the boiler room and beyond that was the sewer regulatory system. He had never been in there, but if they had to, he knew they could use the sewers to get out. When he reached the door, he noticed that the card reader was showing a bright red light, meaning that it too had reset when they rerouted the power. They would have to find a key card that would open that door if they ever needed to go in there. George turned to leave, but suddenly jumped back, startled.

Just behind a thin gate, a decomposing nurse stood, watching him, she hadn't moved yet, but blood and pus leaked down the side of her face as she swayed and drooled. The whole sight was unnerving for George; to see someone in the advanced stages of decomposition and still be moving had thrown his whole idea of sanity in the world out-the-window. Quietly, George sidestepped and backed away from the gate. He was taking special care not to alert the zombie nurse more than he would have to in order to get back with Cindy and the others.

After what seemed the span of an entire lifetime, George saw the door to the security office to his left and spun around on the balls of his feet. He closed the rest of the distance to where the others were quickly.

"You look like shit." Alyssa said in greeting as George returned to the rest of the group.

"Yeah, there's one of those zombies over there, it's behind a fence, but I just can't get over seeing those things." George realized he should have killed it, but he didn't want to risk getting bit by it, especially since it was behind the gate and seemed docile enough.

From inside the security office, George heard Kevin give a loud curse and hit something. Three voices erupted in nervous chatter, saying things George couldn't hear, but he figured what they were talking about. They all needed to figure out the codes, they needed to find a way to crack the old chief of security's riddles in order to find the pass codes to get them to the lower areas.

Suddenly, George heard the sound of something crashing to the ground inside the security office. From inside, shots rang out and David screamed something. Hesitating for only a moment, George sprung back to life; his legs were moving fast but not fast enough. The door was closing in and he only had a few more feet to go. Before he could even get it hand on the door, the door burst open. Mark bounded out of the door, followed closely by Kevin and David. As he slowed down, George stole a glimpse of the 

room before Mark slammed the door shut. The leechman stood menacingly in the middle of the room, hunched over with the leeches crawling all over his body, swimming against each other. As one of the leeches moved, he saw for a short time, something of the person underneath. George thought he recognized the person, but he couldn't see who it was, so he forced the thoughts from his mind.

The door slammed shut and Mark leaned against it, catching his breath. "The thing came outta nowhere." Mark said through panting gasps.

"It travels through the ventilation shafts, so we'll have to be careful from now on." Kevin let the clip slide out of his forty-five and looked at his remaining ammunition. He groaned, slammed the clip into the butt of the pistol, and placed it back in its holster. "I'm out of ammo, so we need to figure out those codes and get some bullets before we leave. George, can you think of _anything_ that could help us?"

"Well, I don't remember the guy all that well", George mentally kicked himself for not paying more attention to people and less attention to trying to get to chief of surgery. "However, I do know that if they made him put those codes down, he wouldn't have done it easily."

"Yeah, you've told us that much." Jim chimed in from behind George.

"Okay, but I mean that he would've done some sort of riddle, you probably need to find two or more sets of papers that give you some convoluted meaning and figure out how to match them together to get the codes." George was frustrated, but that was the only thing he could think of to tell them.

"So, what you're saying is that we need to split up again?" Kevin asked, not at all sure, he wanted to risk leaving the group again.

"It'll probably be the best way to find everything we need." George said with a sigh.

"Fine, then Cindy, David, Mark and I will take the second floor, and the rest of you take the first floor." Kevin said, moving to the elevator. George looked to Cindy, seeing the ghost of a frown as she turned to go with Kevin.

"Take any document you think is related to the codes, okay?" George filed into the elevator with the rest of the people. It was a daunting task ahead of them, but the leechman wasn't going to make anything easier. They would have to maneuver around his constant attacks and try to find a way to kill him.

George wasn't sure they'd be able to crack the riddles laid before them if they even could find the papers. This hospital may very well be the last place they will rest. The irony of it all crashed in around George, he spent his whole working life here, ruining his real life, and it will probably be the last place he is alive in.


	16. Chapter 16

Memories and images swam through George's mind, dancing for only an instance before fleeing away to some unknown niche in the back of his mind. These people, the ones he had worked with, the ones he had laughed with, all dead. He stood over the body of a man he had made plans to get lunch with the next day, Brian. His nametag was splattered with blood, his own George assumed, covering his picture. Bite marks littered the body, leaving pockmarks where blood blisters burst after being dealt a heavy blow.

George looked away from the man, moving along the edge of the table. Alyssa was busying herself, looting the lockers for anything that was remotely useful while Yoko and Jim looked around the room, pushing papers aside and reading the first few paragraphs to be sure, they were useless. Absentmindedly, George pushed and prodded at objects on the table, trying to either pull those spiriting thoughts together, or push them from his mind completely.

Alyssa let out a sound from deep in her throat when she pulled something out of the locker. "Hah, wonder who's been hiding these." She waggled a box of ammunition around in her hand, making a display to George as if it were his contraband. "Seems our good doctors here have something to hide."

The way she was acting disgusted George, but instead of lashing out, he silently bit the inside of his lip, draining away the power his anger held on him. This was no time to quarrel with another survivor; if they started to squabble about petty things then they would all surely die sooner than later. He moved down the table towards the tiny elevator they were let off at, making sure to pick up a small blue plant for Cindy. Cindy, he hoped she was all right, he hoped she wouldn't get hurt before he could see her again. For some reason, he longed to see her again, just to make sure she was safe. With a shake of his head, he banished the sentiment from his mind; he couldn't let anything cloud his judgment in a situation like this. He needed to stay clear minded and strong willed.

George flattened the blue plant against his jacket and stuffed the plant in his pocket, next to the folding knife. When he looked back, he noticed that Yoko and Jim had just finished flipping through the papers and found nothing useful. They looked at each other and gave a slight shake of their heads, signifying that nothing was worthwhile.

"Just a bunch of patient notes and lunch orders." Jim said, throwing down a receipt to a local restaurant.

Alyssa walked between them, loading a clip for the pistol she had found in the inn, pushing it back where it belonged once the clip was full. She nonchalantly, walked through the door next to George without a word. The next room was smaller, less room to move around a larger table stationed right in the middle of the room. Computer screens flashed bright blue, words filling in the blue background with error messages. They didn't have time to restart the computers and search for anything that might help them, so George ignored them as best he could.

"Wait." Yoko held up a piece of paper. "This is something about chemicals on it, like what types there are around here and their numbers. Could it be useful?"

"Uh…just bring it anyway, who knows what could be useful here." George really didn't know much more than the rest of them did, it was draining to be looked to for every answer that revolved around this hospital. He spent most of his time in scrubs, cleaning his hands and preparing to open someone else up, he didn't know anything about these people, about their little quarks. George pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration and moved to a case of medical supplies behind him; inside was a first aid spray. Motioning for Yoko, he gave her the spray and she put it in her bag. Being trapped in the hospital was at least good for stocking up on medical supplies before a long journey out of the city.

As George opened another drawer, a familiar noise sounded not far off. The banging of the ventilation shaft meant only one thing. Leechman.

Suddenly, as if on cue, the grate for the ventilation shaft fell to the floor next to Alyssa on the opposite side of the room from George. Two human legs dangled from a rope of leeches, clinging to the ventilation opening. With a _thud,_ the leechman came crashing to the ground. Alyssa darted away as fast as she could to the other side of the room, taking special care to take out her pistol again.

Like a colony of ants, the leeches swarmed over their host as the two human arms reached out towards Alyssa and ran clumsily towards her. Leeches fanned out and covered the exposed arms. Alyssa's eyes went wide, her fear paralyzing her legs. She just stood there, watching as it moved closer and closer.

George had to do something, but what? He looked around, nothing he could use to kill the creature was anywhere in the room. There was no way he could kill every single leech and purge the host from its slimy prison. George felt helpless, this monster was going to kill Alyssa, and he could do nothing about it, she just stood there. He mentally cursed and looked away, looked down at his hand still resting on the 

drawer, everything seemed so bland now, Alyssa was going to die, and there was nothing he could do to help her.

Something caught his eye. It was in the drawer, a white bag. No, not pure white, it had writing on it letters, 'AB'. George took it out, realizing what it was. The bag squished and moved as he grabbed it, the clear back revealed the real dark red color. George took one last look at the leechman before deciding what he had to do.

"Hey! Hey!" George screamed as he sprang into action. "Over here you bastard."

George swung the bag wildly in the air, trying to get the creature's attention. It wasn't working, so George had to use other methods. He tried to pull the bag open, but these bags were designed to withstand a lot of pressure. Loudly, he cursed at the bag before putting part of it in his mouth. Biting and pulling, George tore at the bag until it started to split. A salty sensation overtook his mouth, it tasted like he had bit into an iron bar covered in salt. Quickly, he spit as much of it out of his mouth as he could.

The leechman froze just inches away from Alyssa. Every single leech rose in expectant joy, pushing the host away from its prey. George ran right past the leechman and out the door opposite the one, he had come through.

Sadly, George hadn't expected to run into the waiting room. Every exit was sealed off by metal gates, the only other exit being the one he had just left. The leechman barreled through the door, nearly smacking it off its hinges. George ran like a lunatic, squirting minute traces of blood in a line across the floor as he moved. He had no idea how he was going to get out, but he had to.

Sofas and umbrellas clustered the tiny waiting room up, George ran to the far corner where he was greeted by a gate to his right and a gate in front of him. No farther than a few paces behind him, the leechman stopped for nothing, its concentration fixed solely on George. Thinking as quickly as possible, George leaped onto the sofa next to him and dove through the little coat rack, landing on the blood pack. Blood squirted in every direction as the blood pack burst. A pool of blood trickled out underneath George as he lay there, gathering his wits. Clumsily, the leechman tried to follow him, getting caught in the coat rack.

He rolled to his left, leaving the emptied blood pack on the floor, and scrambled to his feet. All down the front of his vest, red sticky liquid covered him. George resisted the urge to vomit and cry in shock, concentrating only on getting out of the leechman's path.

In one large group, the leeches pushed their host through the tiny opening between the two support beams for the coat rack. Spurred by their bestial nature, the leeches forced the leechman down, lapping at the pool of blood on the floor. Slowly, George backed away, going back to tiny room where the others stayed.

"Let's go, we need to move." George said, still watching the leechman drinking the blood.

"Where're we going to go?" Jim asked, obviously distraught.

"I don't know, but we can't stay here." George said, blindly grabbing for the closest person to him. Alyssa started to protest, but was cut off by the sound of one of the gates rolling open. It was the gate closest to him, down the hall to his right where he hadn't run with the blood pack. His hand found someone's wrist and pulled them out the door.

Yoko let out a startled cry as George yanked her through the door. As if suddenly jolted back into reality, the leechman stopped drinking the blood and awkwardly swung back to its feet.

"Shit man, why'd you scream?" Jim asked, as he rushed past Alyssa through the door. Slowly, the gate rolled up, teasing them with freedom while the leechman stumbled towards them. With a hiss, the leechman sent out the two lance-like rows of leeches, shooting them at the four people. Yoko collapsed to the ground and backed away a few feet, Jim flopped on the ground and George ducked down readying a tackle to stun the leechman again. As Alyssa went to evade the leechman though, she backed into the wall.

Rows of teeth sunk into her flesh, tearing off chunks of skin as the leeches shot past her and were pulled back. She let out a scream and nursed her bleeding wounds with her hands as George pushed off with his leg, once again slamming his shoulder into the leechman's middle.

All four people regained their composure as the gate rolled all the way to the top. They rushed for the door, but before they reached it, the door opened and Mark stood in the doorway.


	17. Chapter 17

Mark stood dumbly in the doorway, his head cocked slightly to the side, considering the four people in front of him. His gaze lowered to George's chest and pants. The blood stood out as a stark contrast to the black of his suit. Mark's brow drew down.

"Geowge, are you awri-" Mark began.

"No time, let us in." George said as he pushed past Mark, followed closely by the others. Jim slammed the door behind him, only to be met by a single loud bang as the leechman hit the door in its mad dash for them. George let out a sigh of relief, knowing the leechman was on the other side of the door, as little a relief as it was, greatly took a weight off his shoulders. Idly, George put a hand to his heart in a motion that conveyed exhaustion. The sticky blood was starting to dry, but George knew that it was much worse than that. Blood was what that leechman was after, if he kept his clothes, he would attract the leechman wherever he went.

A quick look at his surroundings and George recognized where he was. To his left was the security office, a set of stairs were right in front of him leading to the second floor, no doubt that was how Mark had gotten to them, and directly across from him was another door that led to a changing room. In a few paces, George closed the distance to the door, opened it, and walked through. Lockers lined the wall to his left and down in the corner a small niche was filled with the excess lockers.

Three lockers down, George picked up a small combination locker and turned the dial to the correct numbers, popping the lock open easily. Inside, a bright yellow parka with a pair of khaki pants rested. George instantly unbuttoned his jacket and tore it off, taking his vest off in much the same way. He stripped down to his underwear once more, taking off every bit of clothing that had any trace of blood on it. Curling the new maroon shirt, he slipped it on over his head and shoved his hands through the two holes on either side. His khakis fit nicer and looser than the dress pants he had been wearing, moving around would be a lot easier. Finally, he grabbed his parka and tied up his sneakers.

As George shut the locker and began to walk away, he felt two hands grab him by his shoulders. With a mighty shove, George pushed his would-be attacker back and turned to face the zombie. The nurse must've hid in one of the lockers, hoping to get away from the brunt of the siege. Unluckily, the leechman or one of the other zombies, had gotten her. She now swayed, trying to regain her balance and attack her new meal. George didn't let her get the chance, he threw himself at her, hitting her in the chest with his elbow. The force wasn't enough to knock her down, but it gave George enough time to crouch down low and do a proper tackle.

Once his shoulder hit her, she fell back into the locker, smacking her head hard against the thin metal. Blood splattered where her soft skull hit. As she slid down, George was already one her, kicking her wherever he could land a hit. The zombie nurse just lay there and twitched, taking the beating.

When George was satisfied that she wouldn't get up again, he backed away hoping that he didn't need to take her head off to kill her. There was no getting over killing someone each time he had to do it, no matter how decomposed or rotten they looked, they still held some semblance of humanity in their eyes or in their figure. Even though George was slowly becoming desensitized to this inane slaughter, the sight of the life leaving their eyes tore at his heartstrings.

Shaking his head, George walked back into the little room were the others waited.

"Careful, there's a zombie in there." George said, devoid of any emotion. The others just nodded, they were just as tired of having to kill as he was.

"Nice outfit though." Alyssa said, changing the subject. "Where'd you get it?"

George looked down, he had completely forgotten he had just changed no more than a few minutes ago. "Oh, I uh, helped out with the rescue service not too long ago, they gave everyone parkas to help out when it rained. I liked the jacket so I kept it."

"It suits you, never did see you as a suit kind of guy." Alyssa said as she eyed him up, taking in his features.

"Yeah, so anyone check out the security office?" George asked, opening the door and looking in. Small spouts of fire were coming to life in the corners of the room. George walked in and took a look around before anyone could answer. As if to answer his question, George looked to his left as he entered and saw that someone had pushed the button to activate the gates. He assumed Mark, but George learned a long time ago not to assume anything.

In the back, just past the row of shelving, was a bulletin board where someone had posted papers about recent changes, invitations to parties, and a birthday card about someone named Jack's daughter. George took the card and smiled, thinking about the innocence lost during this whole debacle. Letting the thoughts fly away, George repined the card to the board and started to leave when he noticed something on the cardboard boxes near him. A red box stood out among the rest of the muted brown colors. George picked it up and put it in his pocket, happy to have more ammunition for his pistol.

Mark stood in the hallway with the others, waiting for George to leave the office. They were busying themselves, each doing something else. George walked up to Mark and stopped a few feet from him.

"Where's the rest of your group?" George wasn't particularly worried about the entire group, but Cindy stuck out in his mind. One of Mark's eyebrows rose at the question.

"We had to split up, again. Kevin's idea." Mark paused, looking up the stairs. "They should be here soon, I just went down the stairs, and the rest checked out some rooms, they should be right up there."

From atop the stairs, George heard David's gruff voice calling out to Kevin, saying he had found something. George took the stairs two at a time, hoping that he found some sort of clue to the pass codes. David stood a little bit down the hall from the top of the steps, holding out a piece of paper as Kevin came out of a nearby room with Cindy. A small smile spread across George's face seeing Cindy unharmed, but it quickly faded when she turned his way. He gave her a little nod of his head, acknowledging that he was glad she was all right.

"What is it?" Kevin asked, taking the paper and giving it a cursory read-through. "These are just a bunch of numbers and chemicals. This doesn't have anything to do with pass codes."

"I just figured we should bring anything that could possibly be useful." David said in his defense.

"He's got a point, we don't know what this guy does or what he would do with the codes; we need everything." George's voice was suddenly full of life again, the fleeting scene of the dead nurse leaving his mind.

"Wouldn't that make it a lot harder, sifting through the papers as well as trying to figure out this guy's mind?" Kevin stabbed at George's plan.

George groaned silently. "If there was just something that we could use to get inside this guy's head it would be a little better."

"Wait, Kevin didn't you find somethin' in the computer room?" Mark asked.

"I…well, yeah I had just completely forgotten about it, that's all." Kevin stammered.

"Don't you think that might be a _little_ bit important?" Alyssa's annoyance answered Kevin's embarrassment.

"That leech thing was attacking us, don't you think I can get a little slack here?" Kevin turned defensive.

"Not if you keep overexerting yourself as some leader. Leaders need to lead, not put down other's ideas, especially if you're the one who screwed up." Alyssa called Kevin on his mistake. Kevin's face turned red, but he held his tongue, instead pulling out a piece of paper from his pocket. He handed the folded paper to George and backed up against the wall, leaning indignantly.

"I don't see how it can help though."

"We'll just see what it says." George unfurled the paper and looked at the writing.

_They key isn't how you live life, no. No matter what you do in life, if you aren't already great, you will attain nothing. The key is from the beginning, it's from the first moment not the last. We all die the same we all die alone. Without a beginning, there can be no end, without a start there can be no finish._

_Mr. P. Melmonte_

_Chief of Security_

"Well, I guess we found one of the riddles, but what does it mean?" George asked no one in particular as he handed the note off to the first hand that was reaching for it. "It says a lot, but a lot of nothing really."

"I'm not so sure." Cindy started when she finally got the note. "It says a lot, but I don't think it's nothing. Look, it's all revolving around life and aspects of it. Think about it, it's discounting death at the end so we've eliminated one thing from the riddle."

"Yeah, but it starts talking about beginnings and ends, starting and finishing. That doesn't have to do with life specifically." David said from the distant corner. "I mean, the whole life thing could just as easily be there to pull us away from the real meaning of beginnings. We know it's a four digit code, right?"

They all nodded in unison. David waited before everyone had that concept firmly in their minds. "Well, what if this guy really put the code as a date, a year. Maybe it's the year the hospital was erected. That would be a four digit number right?"

"Makes sense, when was the hospital built?" Mark asked, leaning on the railing of the stairs. Everyone turned to George.

"I don't know, seriously people I came in and operated on patients, I swear I am almost completely oblivious to these people or things about the hospital as a building. I think it was somewhere in the fifties, but I could be wrong." George hated that they turned to him for every damned thing about this hospital, not only did he already feel bad enough that they had to come here and consequently they had gotten trapped in, but prior to the infection he hadn't paid enough attention to those around him. That lack of observation was costing them all dearly now. He sighed and rested his left shoulder on the wall next to him as he placed his middle finger and thumb on his temples, showing his displeasure while trying to concentrate on the stone slab on the front of the building that showed the year the building was built. The obvious one and nine stuck in his mind, the other two numbers seemed to be in a constant haze in his mind. George swung his weight around and pushed off the wall. Now standing on his own two feet, he conceited defeat. "I'm sorry, I just can't think of the date. It wasn't that important to me at the time."

Everyone visibly sighed, their shoulders slumping down with the disappointment. It crushed George to be the object of their disappointment, he always hated letting people down.

"Well, we have to figure this out one way or another, even if it means somehow venturing quickly outside to see the stone slab." David suggested to everyone's amazement. Instantly, a flurry of protests erupted from the other survivors. He held a hand up, hoping to calm them down, if only momentarily. "Does anyone else have a suggestion that would be a better fit?"

"Actually", Yoko began. "There is something else that fits. It encompasses all of that perfectly. What if it wasn't the date the building was built, but another beginning. What if it's actually-" Before Yoko could finish, the ventilation shaft gate crashed to the floor and the sickening squishes of the leeches filled the hallway. Fear drenched the hallway as the leechman fell to the floor with the help of its leeches. The leechman fell closest to David, who by the time the leechman fell to the floor was already a half-a-heartbeat away. They all fled down stairs, taking the steps two at a time, bunching together as closely as possible. The only route they could take was the door that Mark had unlocked; hopefully they would get another moment of peace somewhere else.


	18. Chapter 18

Chips of marble flew through the air as the doorknob slammed against the wall, creating a small crevice in the once spotless marble. The eight survivors tumbled through the door gracelessly, the leechman close behind them. With his foot, David slammed the door shut behind him; being the last person out of the doorway, he knew everyone was clear. A resounding thud shook the foundation of the door as the leechman smacked against it and ground to a stop.

The sound of hundreds of large leeches splashing to the ground could be heard from the other side of the door. Leeches leaked out from underneath the doorway, being pushed through from the force of the others of their kind flooding around them. Powered by fear, David climbed over the mountain of people, getting as far away from the leeches as possible. George, laying closer to the bottom of the pile felt the weight of David's actions crushing against his back pushing the air from his lungs. His hand brushed against something smooth; someone's leg or hand, he wasn't sure. His breath came in ragged pulls, taking in not fresh air, but the stink and sweat from those around him. George gagged on the fetid air, his body rejecting it.

Suddenly, his face felt hot, he was burning up, he needed to get out, and the wall of flesh and bone above him was quickly crushing the life out of him. He scratched at the floor, trying somehow to pull his body out from under the dog-pile. Freedom was only a few feet away, but his mind swam in a river of fright and confusion. An elbow suddenly slammed hard into his back, had he enough air he would have yelped, but George forced himself to ignore the reaction in order to conserve what little air he had.

Finally, after what seemed an eternity of agony, George found the floor, with his elbows and forearms; he pulled his body through the dead weight on top of him. Slowly, he made progress but his legs were still trapped under the pile. Ignoring the pain and pressure, George took in a much-needed breath of fresh air filling his lungs and stopping the floor from spinning. With renewed strength, George started to pull his legs out from under the pile but soon found he didn't need to. Hands found their ways under his arms, helping him out from under everyone. George looked up into two beautiful blue eyes; they reminded him of nothing less spectacular than the deep blue ocean. Blond hair streaked out like the sun shining in the distance. Cindy's smiled brightened his mood.

George shook his head, forcing the heady ideas from his mind, he couldn't be thinking about such notions during a crisis like this. Cindy strained as she pulled George out of the pile, using her own body weight as a counterbalance to pulling him. When one leg slipped out from the pile, he used it to push hard enough to pull the other out. Instantly, George sprang up, turning to help the others.

It was then that he saw the uncoordinated mess as it truly was. In fear, everyone had fallen back on the "free-for-all" idea of safety. The only true defense they had against these creatures was an organized attack, not some mob ruled brawl for survival. David reached in and pulled at Jim as he kicked at Yoko's stomach in an attempt to propel himself farther away from the long-dead leeches. Wrapping his hands around Jim's chest, David pulled him off the pile with a single heave. George shoved his hand in and grabbed hold of Alyssa's wrist, she initially fought him, but soon gave in and allowed him to pull her out. Her blond mane was matted to her face with sweat as she gasped for air when George pulled her head out. She too was pinned, but George put his hands under her arms like Cindy had done for him, pulling her as hard as he could.

When the pile thinned down enough for everyone to calm themselves and get up on their own, George made his way over to where Cindy was in the corner near the vending machine.

"Hey, thanks for helping me back there, I thought I'd never get out." George said.

"Yeah, so did I, until someone grabbed for my leg." A smile streaked across her face. George caught her hidden 'thank you' and nodded. Her face turned sour. "We better get out of here before that thing comes back."

"Yeah…" George's voice trailed off when he thought about the leechman and how truly terrifying it was. He idly pushed a few buttons on the vending machine, thinking about the whole situation. Something didn't make sense, why was everything like this? Such calamity couldn't be just some accident or a mistake of some sort; it had to be an attack. But from whom?

Yoko cleared her throat, snapping George out of his trance. "I'm sorry, but anyway like I was saying maybe it's not the date the building was built but maybe it's about birth in general. You know, like the beginning to life. It takes care of everything in the riddle, it fits."

"Okay, but how would that give us a pass code?" Kevin asked.

"Well, maybe it's the year of someone's birth or something like that." Yoko added while shrugging her shoulders.

"That's not really enough to go on then, I'd hope there would be more to it than that." Alyssa said, pushing up her forearm with the back of her other hand. "Maybe this guy left us more to go on, maybe we shouldn't jump to conclusions."

"She's probably righ'," Mark looked tired, with his arms folded across his chest, leaning against the window to the room with the shelves they had come through earlier. "He probably put it in more than one paper. I mean, if he's gonna go through all this trouble, why make it any easier? Probably split the clues up, jus' to make it harder for anyone else to figure out the codes."

"I don't know", Yoko's face twisted in consternation. "I just don't think that it would be that hard. With as much as this man wants to keep the codes a secret to everyone else, wouldn't the best way to do that be by making it something more…personal?"

In the back of George's mind, something started to bother him. He tried to recall what it might be, but try as he might, nothing he did could call forth the memory he needed. It was beginning to frustrate him, something was there that he should know but he couldn't recall it for the life of him. Mentally, he began to recount everything he saw or took in the past hour. The mental inventory rushed through his mind, everything from papers to the encounters with the leechman. He played what Yoko had said repeatedly in his mind, comparing it to everything that might have anything to do with what she was describing.

He should know this he should recognize it. Silently, George waged war on the blur in his mind. Coming up empty, he relinquished to sitting down on the bench in the middle of the room, next to Mark. Sitting didn't last long when George, still frustrated, stood up suddenly, and began to pace the room, muttering incoherently to himself. Everyone, already preoccupied trying to solve the riddle themselves, paid no mind to George's ramblings.

The answer blind-sided him suddenly. The card.

"Wait, Yoko what did you say again?" George asked, hoping to confirm his suspicions.

"I just said, maybe it's more about like birth or something, maybe we need to find this guy's birth year. He would probably put it as something special like that."

"Not his, but his daughters." George snapped his fingers and started to walk to the door the leechman hit. "There was a card on the security room in there, I need to look at it, it had a date, his daughter's birthday. I'm pretty sure that's the code we're looking for."

"You can't go in there though, that leechman thing is in there." Cindy put a hand on his shoulder, sliding to a stop next to him. She was right, of course, but there was no other way around the situation. If they were to get out of this hospital, they would need that code.

"It's probably gone by now, we're no safer here than in there." George said as he reached for the handle. Before he opened the door though, he took the pistol from his waistband and cocked it, readying it afterwards. Mark walked up behind him and did the same, aiming at the door. Mark nodded and George threw the door open, following the door as it opened with his pistol.

The room inside was empty for all but a few leeches. George stomped on the closest and moved into the room warily. In any one of the corners, the leechman could be hiding. As soon as he entered the room, George made a sharp right and went into the first door he saw. Inside, the fire had spread, but not enough to push him back out of the door. Ignoring the raging heat, George pressed on into the back of the room, grabbing the birthday card as quickly as possible and running back out of the room.

Outside, the others waited, standing around in a huddle, expecting the leechman to jump out and attack at any moment. George almost laughed when he read the comical front cover of the child's birthday card; it reminded him of his own daughter. Stifling the painful memories, George opened the card and sure enough at the top right hand corner of the card were the numbers: **0930**.

"Here we go; she was born on September thirtieth that means we have our code." George said as he folded the card up into quarters and stuffed it in his raincoat's pocket. They had the code, now all that was left was to put it in and get the hell out of this deathtrap.


	19. Chapter 19

Wind licked at George's raincoat as soon as the elevator doors rolled open. The pass code they had found was disappointingly only to gain access to the rooftop, but at least that was something more than they had had. George shielded his eyes with his hand as he stepped out onto the desolate rooftop the faint echoes of crows cawing in the wind could be heard in the distance.

Hard concrete rested underneath George's elbows as he leaned on the waist-high wall that ran around the edge of the roof. The city skyline rose up eerily in the distance, casting a foreboding light all around the streets. George heard the moans of the undead as they ventured the roads looking for another victim to prey upon. Cindy came up next to him and leaned on the wall.

"It's good that you figured that guy's puzzle out." She seemed almost surprised he had figured it out. "We may never have been able to see the sky again. It's depressing, but somehow tranquil seeing the sky like that. I mean", she waved her hand around at the city, "Take out all of the mess and the smells, and basically everything and it's quite beautiful".

George made a noise from the pit of his stomach at her humor. He pushed himself off the wall and turned to her.

"I used to come up here after a rough surgery, to clear my mind you know? Seeing all of the lights at night would really help, just melt everything away. Now, I'm not really seeing the city how it is, but how it was." George paused looking into Cindy's eyes before continuing. "Beauty can never be marred, no matter what the circumstances are."

Cindy's mouth moved trying to say something, but before she could, Kevin called out.

"There's someone here, George come and help me, he looks bad." George turned without forethought and ran around the elevator to where Kevin stood. A police officer was lying down against the brick wall, panting. Blood leaked from tiny little holes all over his body, his flesh torn away piece-by-piece.

George's first thought was that the leeches had gotten to him, but upon looking closer, he saw scratch marks, three scratches grouped closely together each time. In slow, deliberate breaths, the officer's chest rose and fell. He worked his mouth, trying to get it wet enough to formulate the words he needed to speak.

"Chem…" The officer paused, overcome with the pain of talking.

"Just calm down, we're going to help you." Kevin reassured the man, but George knew there was nothing he could do.

"Chemicals…Pat…add…" The light of life in the man's eyes seemed to grow dim and finally fade as he exhaled his last breath. George reached out and slowly closed the man's eyes out of respect. Using his legs as leverage, George pushed up from the ground and brushed himself off. Death was becoming all too easy to handle, while he knew it would help him survive, George didn't like that it was so easy to just let someone die.

"What do you think he meant?" Jim asked the question on everyone's mind.

"Isn't it obvious?" Alyssa was standing with her hand rested on her hip, behind the semi-circle of people crowded around the dead officer. "Look, we had those two papers with the chemicals on the right? They had numbers on them; add them up, simple as that."

"Yeah but some of those numbers would be over four digits long." David had taken out the chemical paper he had from his bag of plumbing supplies. Looking it over, it was clear that most of these numbers, when added would yield numbers much greater than any number in the thousands.

"Then we don't use them, this Pat guy was paranoid, so why wouldn't he try to dissuade anyone from actually figuring out the codes? Place some doubt and we have eight people who can't solve his little riddles." Alyssa gave a short huff, snatched the paper from David's hand, and took out the other paper from her pocket. After a few minutes, Alyssa used a pen to write down a few numbers. "So…we have, either: three-five-five-five, five-three-one-five, or eight-two-eleven. Anything ring a bell?"

George shrugged when she looked at him. "Those sound pretty good, it's the best thing we've got right now." George took the paper from Alyssa and read the numbers to himself as he walked to the elevator. Jim was already standing at the doors, waiting for them to roll open. A few seconds after George reached the doors, they opened, and everyone piled in.

George was amazed, Alyssa's math was all right, she had only spent mere seconds doing the math in her head. She found all possible combinations that yielded results under four digits. His head spun with the idea of how hard that must be to do as the elevator doors rolled open once more and he was standing facing the white walls of the first floor basement.

George handed the paper to Kevin, who had his hand out, waiting for the paper. Something felt wrong but George couldn't grasp what he was feeling in the pit of his stomach. No zombies were around, the leechman wasn't anywhere to be found, but that didn't surprise him that thing popped out of anywhere at any time. Consciously, George grabbed a broom near him, he knew bullets wouldn't work on the leechman, but he could at least stun it enough to get away.

Kevin opened the door to the computer room and walked into the darkness beyond. George pushed his dread into the back of his mind and followed into the computer room after Cindy. Inside, only a portion of the room was lit up because of the blue glow from the monitor that Kevin was working on.

"Alright, Alyssa, read me the numbers?" He posed it as a question, but there was no doubt in George's mind that it was meant as an order. Kevin obviously hadn't let go of his control complex, even after being chastised by Alyssa earlier. Reluctantly, Alyssa snatched the paper from his outstretched hand and started to list off numbers. She opened her mouth to start, but was abruptly cut off as the gate to the ventilation shaft came crashing to the floor.

"Damnit! We don't have time for this, George, Cindy, keep that thing occupied for a while, we need to get this code in."

"What the hell are we going to do?" George didn't even realize he had spoken when the leechman hit the floor. Broom in hand, George lunged at the leechman, purposefully walking in Cindy's way. The broom head hit the leechman in the stomach, doing no early damage, but pushing him back nonetheless. "Hurry up!"

"Uh…try three-five-five-five." Alyssa stammered. Kevin slammed the keys down one at a time inputting the code. The monitor changed from blue to red.

"Wrong one."

Cindy ran in the corner and picked up a mop lying against the wall. In the corner of George's eye, he saw her leave the room; somehow, he found comfort in knowing she wasn't there with them in a confined space with the leechman. Regardless of how safe Cindy was, George found it increasingly difficult to hold the leechman at bay. As soon as George pushed it back, the leechman would gain more ground just hobbling towards George. A few times, he even had to tackle the leechman when it tried to hit him. It wasn't working and George knew it, he would have to find another way to hold the leechman off.

"Alright, uh…five-three-one-five."

Again, Kevin typed in the numbers one at a time, making sure he got the correct combination. His eyes lit up when it took a little longer than the first time, but the results were the same. The monitor flashed red and an error message flashed to the screen.

"Just put in the right code damnit!" George was at his wit's end, there was no way he could hold the leechman off anymore. He had to though.

With a loud grunt, George shoved the broom into the leechman's soft middle, snapping the head off and part of the shaft. Shards of wood flew past George's head. He cursed loudly, tossing the failed weapon off to the side. He only had his body now, even if he had to give his life to save the others, he would throw his own body at the leechman to buy them enough time to input the code and escape.

A scream erupted from the bowels of George's soul as he ran at the leechman; ramming his shoulder into the same spot, he had been putting the broom. He could feel tiny teeth sink into his flesh for only a mere moment as their saliva started to numb his shoulder. With the leechman in tow, George ran it into the desk nearby, pulling away just in time so he wouldn't fall over with it. Two leeches remained attached to him; George closed his eyes as he slowly pulled the leeches out of his skin with his hands.

The leechman didn't seem deterred at all by what George had just done, getting up quickly with the help of its leeches. As the leechman rose, the door burst open and light poured in the dark room, making George shield his eyes. Cindy waved around the flaming mop, screaming for George to get out of the way. She used the mop like a spear, stabbing at the leechman over and over again. Something about the fire gave the leechman pause, forcing him back a step unlike anything George had ever tried. It seemed 

almost like it feared the fire. Fire light danced along Cindy's face as she pulled the mop back and stepped forward, pushing the leechman into a corner.

"The last one's eight-two-eleven."

"This better work!" Kevin screamed, putting in the last combination. For an instant it looked as if it might not work, but instead of flashing red, the monitor turned green and a message saying that the second floor basement was unlocked showed up on the screen. Kevin let out a small cheer and stood up in a rush, running past Alyssa and grabbing onto George's shoulder as he ran. With Kevin pulling him, George had barely enough time to grab onto Cindy before getting pulled out of the room. In her last ditch effort, Cindy threw the flaming mop at the leechman, hitting it square in the chest. The leechman let out a loud roar, pulling away from the mop as fast as possible. A few leeches that were hit by the flames fell off onto the ground and melted away in a pool of purple goo.

David slammed shut the door behind them, sealing off the leechman for the time being. There was only one more place to go, one more place to survive before they were out of the hospital, out into the sewers and hopefully, out of the city.


	20. Chapter 20

Bits of plaster and white dust floated casually to the floor below as the door shook with each resounding blow delivered by the entity inside the room beyond. David stood, grunting as he held the door shut with all of his might, but he was struggling just to keep the door closed. Cindy reached for David, but he shirked away from her hand, urging her instead to go and get the elevator door open. Jim was already pounding the call button for the elevator. George reluctantly pulled Cindy away from David after seeing the determined look in the plumber's eyes. With his arm wrapped firmly around her waist, George hoisted Cindy off the ground with his uninjured arm and drug her to the elevator.

Around the time they reached the elevator, Cindy stopped struggling and instead watched David with a forlorn longing to help him, to bring him with them. A familiar ding signaled that the elevator had arrived. The first people hovering around the door to the elevator piled in, but Mark hung back for an instant.

"David! Les go!" He called out as he waved the exhausted man on. David didn't need to be told twice; he pushed off from the door and ran with all he could towards the elevator. As flimsy as the door was, it didn't stand the abuse from the leechman more than a few seconds after David let go. In a split-second, the door crashed against the opposite wall and the leechman fell to the ground, not expecting the sudden lack of force pushing against its constant barrage of attacks. Regaining its composure didn't take long though, the leeches reformed around their host, hoisting it up quicker than the host would have been able to do on its own. No more than a few feet behind David, the leechman hobbled as fast as it could for David and the elevator. David was too fast though, he was already closing the distance to the elevator faster than the leechman could hobble.

Arms flailing, David ran into the elevator. Upon crossing the threshold, Yoko jammed the "close door" button over-and-over-again, trying to stimulate the automatic response. George furrowed his eyebrows, watching the doors slide closed as the leechman raised its arms in hopes to stop the inevitable. Metal banged against metal as the doors finally made contact, closing off the image of the leechman. Futile bangs shook the elevator as the leechman pounded on the doors. Yoko reacted quickly, pressing the, now lit, button for the second floor basement. A collective sigh of relief sounded in the elevator as they felt it begin to move. They had once again narrowly dodged the leechman, but how long could they keep it up? They needed to find a way to dispatch of it before anyone else got hurt.

Thinking of that, George idly felt the glistening red liquid running down his arm. Blood leaked through the hole in his jacket and George probed the wound, hoping that it wasn't too bad. Stinging pain shot through his arm when he felt the exposed skin. Tears uncontrollably welled up in his eyes, but he ignored them.

"You're hurt." Cindy said, turning to him. It was more of a statement than a question. She reached into her herb case and brought out one of the green herbs. Chewing it, she softened it up as she had the first time, making it into an unpleasant looking green mush. It soothed his pain when she spread the paste onto his wound, it felt almost like rubbing aloe on sunburn.

George smiled in thanks as the elevator rumbled to a halt. The doors opened once more, revealing a hallway that looked almost identical to the one on the floor above, the only difference being some accoutrements were moved around, and the lack of a room where the computer room had been.

"The sewers should be through that room down the hall there." George said to the rest of the group while pointing to the room down at the far end of the hall, opposite where they stood. Kevin started down the hall without waiting. He closed the distance in a short time, jiggling the handle to the door George had talk about before when he reached it.

"It's locked." He said flatly, looking at something to the right of the door. "Looks like we need some sort of key card to open it."

"Of course, the one upstairs is locked too; I should have known both would've been out because of the power." George mentally kicked himself for being so lackadaisical with observing his surroundings. He should have known that this door would also have been locked. Hours of hectic survival, suddenly culminated into one large rock that rested on George's conscience. It felt like, if he didn't start to wizen up, then he might end up getting everyone killed, and that kind of pressure wasn't bearable. "The key card should be on any one of the doctors in this hospital."

"So, you have on then?" Jim asked, his voice displaying a hint of hope. George felt sorry to disappoint him, but had to shake his head anyway.

"No, we have to give in our I.D. cards at the end of the night and they are all locked up in a metal security box, some regulations because of drug attics. The drug attics would attack the doctors and take their cards to gain access to the pharmacy. They would then get the drugs they wanted and some would even sell them on the streets. To both protect the doctors and the stock of drugs that are needed to help aid the patients, the doctors are now required to submit their I.D. cards at the end of the night. So, 

mine is in a box somewhere, that I neither have access to nor do I know where it is located." George could see the hope leave his eyes during his explanation and was depressed that he couldn't help the man out. If they could just find another doctor, then they would be able to get access to that door.

"Alright, well where would you suggest looking then?" Alyssa had her hand on her hip, leaning to one side. Her voice conveyed a certain authority; she was a woman who knew the right questions to ask. George conceded that she had definitely earned the appellation of "greatest reporter in Raccoon".

"Well," George moved his hand out, moving it in a semi circle as he talked "I'm sure Hursh had one on him".

George felt a sudden pang of guilt over forgetting about his fallen friend, but he also knew that he couldn't hold onto sentimental feelings until he was safe. Unbeknownst to George some of the others stole glances to each other, passing along a silent message.

"Okay…is there anyone else that would have one?" Kevin asked. George saw a hint of something not said in his question. He cocked his head to the side, not sure, why he was asking, but gave the notion some thought anyway.

"Well, for the second floor basement…I'd have to say that maybe the Chief of Medicine, he's not required to submit his I.D. card, so he might have just left it in his desk drawer or something. We could probably find a way to his office. I just don't understand why we would need to if we could just get it off Hursh's body."

Kevin looked to David, who returned the look in kind, but neither said anything. Mark, looking uncomfortable stepped forward.

"Look, Geowge, ya have to understand that we din't want to keep it from you. We just figured that you'da kind of…done somethin'." Mark paused, searching for the words, when he didn't find what he wanted George spoke up.

"What, what didn't you want to tell me? You already told me that Hursh died, I understand if it was gruesome, I don't care right now, I don't have to be the one to get it. You don't need to tell me the details, just have someone else go, and get the card. It hurts, I won't lie, he was really one of my only friends, but you all have to realize that I understand that I can't grieve for a friend if I'm dead. My will to survive right now is overpowering my want to just break down and mourn for a lost friend." George stared into Mark's eyes, his words were becoming heated, and he knew it. He couldn't stand trying to reason with these people that he had to push Hursh's death behind him if he was to survive. It was killing him inside that he had to forget about his friend, he had to push past all of the memories with him. This whole ordeal was surreal to George and it was a foreign concept to have his friend pass away, but they needed to get out of this damned place before George could do anything to honor his friends passing and in order to get out, they needed his I.D. card. By making excuses to forestall getting that card, they were in a sense hindering him from honoring his friend and that wasn't acceptable to George. "So, please spare me the bullshit right now, we need to get that card off of his body before we can go anywhere. Now as I said, I won't be the one to get it, but I'll be damned if we have to go through this entire frigging hospital to find that bastard of a man's office just to get his damned card!"

Mark had backed up a step, watching George's face turn red as he screamed, tears rolling down his face. "Geowge, it's just that-"

A rattle permeated through the ceiling, the ventilation shaft was shaking.

_Not again_. George thought to himself, reacting subconsciously. He backed away from the grate, pushing himself in front of Cindy, his arms out to either side acting like a shield. She put a hand on his shoulder pulling him back as well. Kevin, David, and Mark backed away as well, looking up at the grate and expanding the distance between themselves and the rest of the group.

The grate fell to the floor with ease, crashing down noisily. From inside the ventilation shaft a mass of squirming, slimly leeches fell to the floor. Two thin legs protruded from the hive of leeches, the leechman lay on the floor for only an instant. As if they were some sort of liquid entity, the leeches scattered slightly and reformed above their host, pulling it up with them.

Now standing tall, in the middle of the group, the leechman swiveled both ways, debating on whom to attack first in the tiny hallway.


	21. Chapter 21

Leeches climbed effortlessly over each other in a swirling, endless ocean of purple and black goo. Slime dripped from the residue left by the hundreds of leeches as the leechman indecisively moved back and forth, trying to decide which group would prove the easier target. The collective consciousness of the leeches worked feverously, calculating their chances of success, of obtaining their meal.

Not wanting to give the leeches time to pool their thoughts, George looked around, looked for something that could distract it enough for the others to regroup and push the leechman back. Nothing he could use was near, no brooms, no crutches, no flaming mops to be seen. Kevin stepped back, obviously giving the leechman the motive necessary for an attack. With a screech, it lashed out, throwing the twin lance-like rows of leeches out at the new target. Kevin sidestepped effortlessly and pressed tight against the wall, narrowly missing being hit by the leeches. Mark instinctively threw his arms up, covering his face from what he perceived as an attack on him.

Now more frantic than ever, George looked around thinking that he might be able to derive some use out of a small portable storage table next to Yoko. He abandoned the idea as pure hope; hope wasn't going to distract the leechman. His eyes worked over the stainless steel exterior of the table, he wondered why he recognized it, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Something about it roused some idea of necessity from it, as if it was more valuable than he first thought it to be.

Quickly, he turned back to the leechman. The leechman was bearing down on Kevin, feeding off Kevin's fear. George watched the leeches falling off the host's body and crawling back up its leg to rejoin the other leeches.

Leeches.

George felt his arm again; realization hit him like a brick wall. He suddenly spun back around and ran to the storage table. Pawing at the drawers, he fumbled around for a few seconds, pulling out half melted bags of ice. In his hand, he retrieved the object he was hoping to find. With the knife from his pocket, he flipped the blade out and plunged it into the dark red bag in his hand. The leechman froze.

George let out a wild scream as he had done once before, again squirting the blood everywhere. Knife and blood pack in hand, George pushed through the others near him, racing into the room opposite the elevator he had been standing next to. Like a cobra following the sound of a piper, the leechman 

followed his every move. A trail of blood ran underneath the door as it swung closed, leading the leechman into the room beyond.

Two tables ran along the walls, meeting in an 'L' shape where two walls met adjacent to each other in the corner next to George. Another table, to his left held the dissected body of a man who was undergoing an autopsy. George assumed that the doctors performing the autopsy had to cut it short when the outbreak happened.

As he ran through the room, he realized that he was coming to a dead-end. The next room was only a temperature control room for handling blood packs. There was only one entrance to that room and George was about to lock himself in the room with the only thing that he had yet to find a way to kill. His mind ran faster than his legs, trying to find ways to skirt past the leechman and lock him in the room. George figured that he could probably run into the refrigerator with the blood packs and maybe break open one or two, hoping the leechman was more interested in them, than a fresh prey. Once the leechman was occupied, he could make a break for the door again, somehow barring it behind him.

Locking the leechman in was only a temporary fix; he knew they would have to find a way to kill it at one point. George grunted as he threw open the door that led to the temperature control room; only a few steps behind the leechman hobbled through the doorway before it slammed closed. As George ran, he pushed off he controls, trying to turn as fast as he could. The door that preceded the refrigerator slid open when George got close enough. Throwing the blood pack on the floor, George reached into one of the slots on the shelves that lined the walls of the refrigerator, grasping onto the first blood pack he could find. With his knife, he slashed open the pack and threw it on the floor too, taking only a moment to move away a few steps before taking another and tearing it open. He threw three more blood packs on the ground before running past the leechman, who was on its knees, lapping up the blood like a thirsty puppy. As the automated door slid closed behind George, he stopped to catch his breath, knowing the leechman would be a while before it finished with the blood on the ground.

He turned once more and stared at the leechman, drinking the blood, the leeches all trying to get to the blood, but fearing to remove themselves from the host. He was suddenly taken back to the time in the computer room, when the leechman had attacked, how easy it was to push it back, but nothing seemed to hurt it any. George had been able to give it pause, but never truly instill fear into it, never truly able to give it a reason not to attack again. He guessed that blinded by blood, the leechman would be willing to withstand anything to get what it craved.

However, that wasn't true. George may not have been able to stop it, but Cindy was. The leechman stopped when she waved the mop around, it backed away it avoided her.

Fire.

Of course! How could he be so stupid? Whenever someone got a leech stuck to them, they would burn it off, singe the leech until it took its tiny little teeth out of their body. The leechman wasn't afraid of fire, the leeches controlling it were.

George pushed off the window and turned to his left, running back to the control panel he had used to turn while running. Buttons riddled the face of the control panel; what at first was a confusing mess, soon turned out to be a lot of clearly labeled buttons. George frantically searched for what he needed as he saw the leechman stand up from another pool of blood and move onto the next one. Different gauges showed colors that went from a bright blue, to a mild yellow and finally an even brighter orange. Flipping all of the switches to the bright orange didn't seem to do anything.

He let out a loud growl, not knowing what else to do. It took him a few more seconds of searching until he noticed that on the right side, the control room was set to **cool**. With a growing sense of comprehension, George pushed the button next to the display and it blinked out. Suddenly, the fans in the room died.

Waiting, George searched the room for any signs of change, but none were apparent. He wondered if it worked, or if it just took some time. Still in a state of panic, George looked back at the control panel and wondered if he did anything wrong, but even the digital thermometer showed that the temperature was increasing. Then why was nothing happening? Maybe it required an instantaneous burn that a fire would give, maybe the leeches really did have a high resistance to heat, but it required a quicker administration to have any effect.

No, heat was heat. He was coming up with ridiculous answers to questions that need not be asked in his panicked state of mind, it would just take some more time that's all. His eyes darted back and forth in the room, watching for any telltale signs of change. George idly fiddled with the switches that he had pushed to the bright orange section, trying to push them up further.

"Come on…come on…" George said to himself as he watched the leechman move from the blood pool onto the last one. He was running out of time, if the heat didn't kill the leechman, he may not even have enough time to make it through and find something to block the door with before the leechman could have him. George could feel his heart hammering in his head, he was contemplating forgetting the whole thing and running back through the door, but if he left now he'd never know if the leechman was truly dead, he wouldn't know if it would sneak up on them and get one of the other survivors. It was better to take the chance and know that the leechman survived, than to abandon it now and risk someone's life.

As the leechman started on the last blood pool, it stopped suddenly. Bent halfway over, the leechman shot up and started to hobble over to the door, leaving the pool of blood. Leeches fell to the floor just like they had when Cindy hit them with the flaming mop, melting away into the same purple goo. More and more fell as the leechman tried to close the distance to the door. It was a futile effort, the squirming mound of leeches were moving faster than normal, each trying to find some refuge from the heat.

Blood began to boil in the plastic bags; it turned an odd brownish color. The plastic gave way, one at a time bursting open and shooting the browned blood all over the floor, covering like a macabre swimming pool. Blood leaked out from under the automated door, soaking the concrete floor next to George.

In a last ditch effort, the leechman lunged for the doorway, but missed. As it fell, the leeches seemed to stop moving, dying away at the last instant. When the leechman hit the floor, they scattered like a house of cards after a strong wind. Their host now lay on its stomach, somewhat obscured from George's view.

Quickly, George pushed all of the switches back down to the blue area on the visual bar and turned the cooling back on. He stepped through the metallic looking liquid, trying his best to ignore the fetid smell of the spent blood. As the door slid open, he finally got a look at what was causing him so much pain. Hursh lay spread out in a river of dead leeches, tiny holes pocked his face from where the leeches had bit into him, sucking the lifeblood from his face and neck. George looked away and stifled a sob at seeing his friend's corpse in such a helpless manner.

Guilt slowly took over; he had killed him. If he didn't turn the heat on, then this would've never happened. In some small way, George was responsible for Hursh's final death. The leeches were keeping him alive, but George killed the leeches. He had to lean on the wall to keep from falling down, his legs now too unsteady to hold all of his weight.

What if he didn't kill him though? Hursh would've been left to do whatever he wanted, he would've killed everyone. No, he couldn't blame himself, Hursh wasn't himself, he was already dead. A mere shell used as a home for those things. George passed his hand through his hair, feeling the cool air blowing on his scalp when he ruffled his hair.

The door creaked open, David walked in with his knife in hand. His eyes darted around the room, doing a threat assessment. Upon seeing nothing that could cause him harm, David's body visually relaxed. He replaced the knife in his pouch and walked over to George.

As he was about to say something, David took in the sight of Hursh lying on the floor, surrounded by the purple goo that once was the mound of leeches. "You found a way to…kill it?"

"Heat." George turned to face David. "Heat, I noticed that when Cindy hit it with the flaming mop, the leeches died. I then remembered that in order to remove a leech that was stuck on you, you would have to burn it off. Ergo, using the heat control from this room killed it."

George felt like he was somewhere distant, watching himself talking to David. Nothing seemed real; it was trying just to get a hold on his out-of-control emotions. David pushed past George and bent down at Hursh's side. His hand went into Hursh's lab coat pocket, grouping around inside. Finding nothing, he reached across the dead body and felt in the other pocket, pulling out a small plastic I.D. card.

"Is this the card we'll need?" David brandished the card, turning it over and examining it. George just nodded, not sure where to find his voice. David gave George a slight pat on the shoulder. "You had to do it George; if you didn't then we'd all have been dead."

George knew he was right, but knowing didn't make it hurt any less. With one last glance at Hursh, George turned and followed David out of the temperature control room. Finally, with the key card, they would be able to get out of the hospital. The idea of actually surviving seemed to be a little more tangible for George, with another accomplishment under his belt he felt like he might just be able to make it out yet.


	22. Chapter 22

George let out a long drawn-out sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose. His head had been hurting for the past couple of minutes and the pain was making his eyes burn. Stifling back a moan, he moved past Kevin and peered down at their last form of hope. Inside the tiny room they had unlocked with the key card found on Hursh's body, nothing much looked helpful except for the boat that was disappointingly chained up to a metal bar cemented into the floor. Cindy had found some herbs, but George didn't really care about that now, his only idea for safety was suddenly dashed on the rocks of failure. Why wouldn't they chain the boat up? That was the only smart thing to do, it could drift away or something if they didn't.

Kevin wiped his bottom lip with his thumb, thinking for a few seconds while staring at the chain. He stood up and hooked his other thumb behind his belt, considering an option. Tipping his head to the side slightly, he seemed to come up with a solution.

"Alright…" His voice trailed off as he unhooked his holster and pulled out his pistol.

"Whoa!" George threw his hands up, pushing Kevin's gun away from the boat. "First of all, there's a gas canister right next to you, you'll kill us all. Secondly, shooting the chain is a bad idea, what if the bullet ricochets and puts a hole in the boat? I certainly don't want to find out what's living in that water by wading through it, do you?"

Kevin groaned and nodded as he replaced the pistol to the holster. "What do you propose then? Do you know where the key is?"

"Eh…maybe." George wasn't sure but he knew that they kept a lot of the odd things in a room near the boiler on the first floor basement. Of course, the door that led to the hallway was locked as well; he'd checked that door the first time they went to that floor. "There's a room near the boiler room, they keep random things there that aren't often used. It's basically a janitorial room and so everything gets shoved in there. The janitor hated it…poor guy."

"And all of this is…where?" Kevin looked skeptical, his hand was still on his pistol, and he was considering using it anyway.

"It's a floor up, but the door there is locked by another key pad."

"Well, that's fine we've got this one." Kevin held up Hursh's keycard. George frowned and looked away.

"It's…not that simple. The floors have different clearance levels. The second floor basement needs strict clearance and so since Hursh was a doctor like myself, we need to come down here often and so we are given clearance for this floor. Upstairs is another matter, doctors don't need to be in the boiler room, so we don't have access. It goes along with the drug attic thing, they didn't want us to abuse our power so, we don't have access to the entire hospital."

David let out an audible sigh. "Are you serious? You mean, not only do we have to find the key, but also we have to find a key to get to the key? What the hell kind of hospital is this? It's like they _want_ people to die around here."

"So, then where is this other key?" Alyssa shot David a glance as she walked past him and up to George.

"The nurses or the janitors would have it, but we're better off going for the nurses. Uh…we should check the nurse's office on the first floor, right near the locker room where we all piled up."

A few of them shuddered at the memory, looking at each other.

"Well, there's no way I'm going back up there!" Jim's loud voice almost sounded like a scream, but George knew otherwise.

"I'm actually kind of tired myself, does anyone mind if I rest a bit?" Yoko stood next to Jim, pushing her backpack up on one shoulder.

"Alright, so who _is_ willing to go?" Kevin spun around slowly, making sure to look at all of the survivors when he asked. George raised his hand, it was obvious he had to go; he was the only one who knew where everything was. When George raised his hand, Cindy put up hers and David's soon followed. Mark frowned and shook his head, breathing heavily he plopped on the ground.

Alyssa sighed. "Look, you're not sure where the key to this lock is right? Meaning, it might not even be where you said it might be?"

When George nodded, she continued. "Well then, it's pretty stupid to go off and only look for that keycard to get to the room you think it might be. I'm gonna go back to the third floor and look around up there, maybe Doctor Hursh had it before the leech thing got to him."

George doubted that she would find anything, but shrugged and told her she might have a point. With that, she turned and returned through the door they had come in and disappeared into the hospital. Kevin looked torn, he wanted to stay, and rest, but he looked like he was deciding between duty and desire.

"Kevin, why don't you stay here and watch over these people?" George suggested, giving Kevin a way out of his dilemma without appearing to lose face. Kevin only nodded and walked next to Mark, plopping down along side of him. As George turned to leave, Kevin called out to him. From his pocket, Kevin dug out a box of ammunition for the pistol George had in his waistband.

"Don't get hurt out there." Kevin said as he tossed George the box of ammunition.

"I wouldn't think about it." George caught the ammunition and placed it in the coat pocket of his rain jacket. He walked out the door, leading Cindy out first with a hand on her back. David walked behind them, a slight limp forming in his step. "Are you alright?"

David waited to answer until the door clicked closed behind them. "Eh…the pain's getting a bit worse. It's only a flesh wound, but it feels a whole hell of a lot worse." David winced as he put more weight on the leg that had been cut by the skinless monster in the inn. George put David's arm around his shoulder, led him off to some shelves right next to the door, and leaned him up against the closest one.

"Cindy, can I have a little bit of that blue herb?" George asked, making sure David was steady on his feet. She nodded and reached in her pouch, pulling out a single blue herb.

"Not many grow around here, so we need to use these sparingly, okay?" She handed him the herb, enhancing her point by making eye contact. George frowned, but conceded her point before taking the herb and reaching into his own kit and taking out the mortar and pestle. With a calculated, efficient hand, George ground up a few leaves from the herb and gave Cindy back the rest. George poured the powdered plant into a little plastic pill container and pushed one end into the other, closing the pill. David took it skeptically, looking at the pill and then to George.

"It's alright, it's the same thing I had Cindy make me when you had to relocate my leg. All it is is a painkiller. Although, I think we need to find you some antibiotics because that leg is looking pretty bad."

David grunted and looked away, his face showing a mixture of disdain and contemplation. It didn't take him long, but David looked back at George, his expression turning to acceptance.

"Fine, I'll admit it's getting bad, but I…I don't know." His voice became softer as he turned to look at the closed door behind them, as if someone would suddenly come through the door to hear him. "I'm not turning into one of those things am I?"

A wild fright danced in David's eyes, one George had never seen the man display before. His gruff exterior was weakened in one blinding instant. All of his fears were escalating and gushing out. George laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Look David, even if you are infected, we're not going to give up on you. We'll find a cure, we have to."

David didn't look convinced, but he nodded anyway. "So, antibiotics?"

"Yeah, if anything it'll slow any infections you might have. Leaving an open wound unattended is like rolling around in the mud in a clean white shirt. You're bound to get something in there." George put his hand behind David's back, between his shoulder blades and pushed the man in front, letting him lead them to the elevator. Luckily, the nurse's office they were heading towards had an examination room just behind it that would have multiple antibiotics. The only question was which to give to David?


	23. Chapter 23

"When did they get there?" Cindy whispered, poking her head out of the elevator slightly to gain a better view of the two zombie doctors, swaying to and fro in the tiny office on the first floor. George slipped a hand under her arm and pulled her back into the elevator.

"I don't know, but why don't we not show them we're here?" His voice was hushed and he took in David. David's eyes were shut and he held his breath, leaning against the wall of the elevator. George held the doors open with his hand while he idly reached for the pistol resting in his waistband. The cold steel was reassuring to him; the old adage about courage behind a gun came flooding into him. He welcomed it.

With the gun held in both hands near his groin, George slipped out of the elevator as quietly as possible. He knew he only had one shot if this was to work. His aim wasn't perfect, but if the zombies weren't moving, he could at least hit one in the head. Throughout the night, George had been studying Kevin, watching his routine, all the steps he went through before and after he let off each shot. Quietly, George took in a few breaths, feeling the air filling his lungs. Slowly, George raised his arms and aimed at the first zombie. The world seemed to move in slow motion, his vision became tunneled, everything focused on that doctor. His finger touched the trigger.

Breathe.

Steadily, George took one last breath, holding it in his lungs. Now that he wasn't breathing, his hands were just a bit steadier.

Aim.

The two sights lined up, blocking out the zombie's head. He'd have to hold the gun still, lest he miss his chance.

Squeeze.

He began to put pressure on the trigger, it was difficult at first, but after the initial few millimeters, the trigger gave way. With a resounding _thud_, the pistol kicked back and a loud _crack_ sounded from the front of the barrel. In a stunning display for red and black, the zombie's head exploded into a slurry of gore; spreading all over the white wall behind, covering over posters and splattering on the table against the wall.

As is on cue, the other zombie turned toward the noise, its cataracts ridden eyes turned to face him. They might as well have been white balls of death turning to George. Rapidly, George turned toward the other zombie, the gun trained on it. Try as he might, George couldn't get his hands to stop shaking, fear intoxicated him.

Moaning its macabre song, the zombie shuffled towards George. All of his careful planning evaporated from his mind. He squeezed the trigger; a quick jolt pushed the pistol upwards in his hands. The zombie's shoulder flew back a bit as a round passed through the rotten flesh underneath its shoulder. George frantically re-aimed the pistol and squeezed off another round. This time, the zombie wasn't even hindered as the bullet blew a tiny hole into its abdomen.

It was only a few feet away when George let go of all inhibitions. Squeezing off one round after another, the zombie was pushed back each time, the bullet hitting in non-vital regions. Like a maniac, George let out a high pitch moan that nearly matched that of the zombie.

The zombie was getting too close for comfort, giving up some ground; George shuffled back as he let off another round. His back hit against the wall the same time the clip ran out of ammo. With the slide pushed back and the barrel exposed, signifying the pistol was empty; George squeezed the trigger, hoping that by some miracle he would still be able to kill it.

Arms stretched out, the zombie's cloudy eyes took in George like a hungry lion eyeing its prey. George knew what he had to do. Almost instinctually, George began to duck down and drop his shoulder down low. Before he could move a muscle, the zombie's head exploded and gore shot in all directions. Bits of brain matter sprayed onto George's chest and face. He turned his head as quickly as possible, avoiding any contact with his eyes, mouth or nose.

"Aim for the head." David was leaning against the elevator door, holding a smoking gun. George moved out of the way of the falling body and stepped neatly around the blood puddle on the floor. "You're welcome."

"Thanks, but next time, shoot it a little earlier, please?" George said as he wiped his face with a handkerchief he procured from his pocket. Throwing the bloodstained handkerchief on the floor next to the dead zombie, George looked to Cindy. "Shall we?"

"Be more careful please?" Cindy took George's hand and stepped over the corpse. Her eyes displayed just how much she was worried. George flashed her a smile in response as he turned to help David over the body. Once everyone was out of the elevator, Cindy opened the door to the room Yoko had found the first memo about the chemical notes.

Squishing a few left over leeches under foot, George walked cautiously through the next room, skirting the large table in the middle and heading straight for the opposite door. Outside, the hallway was still covered in the blood of the blood pack George had broken open to lure the leechman away from Alyssa. Some more leeches were gravitating towards the puddle to meet up with others who were already feasting on the blood. Wanting to be as far away as possible from the leeches, George motioned towards the door to their right. Single file, they made their way around the wall and through the other door. George, pistol still in hand was first into the room. Luckily, the room seemed empty.

Looking down, George noticed that the slide on his pistol was still slid all the way to the right, exposing the barrel of the gun slightly. He growled at his obliviousness to his own weapon and ejected the clip. Catching it in the palm of his unoccupied hand, George took out the box of ammunition Kevin had thrown him and began reloading. David walked up next to him, grunted, and began to reload his own pistol.

After about a minute, George pushed the clip back into the butt of the pistol and cocked it once more. As George started for the door that led to the locker room where he had changed his clothes, a sudden jolt stopped him. The whole hospital seemed to shake from the foundation.

"Earthquake?" George asked without thinking.

"No, explosion maybe." David's raspy voice chimed out from behind him. George used the railing for support, but the shaking stopped almost as fast as it began. "Sounded like it came from near the Apple Inn…"

"That certainly was odd." Cindy said absent-mindedly. She was staring off into the distance, lost in thought. When George started to move, she shook her head and walked up behind him. The door to the locker room creaked open and revealed a dimly lit row of lockers to George's left. He stepped over the heap of his old clothes as he made his way into the room, holding the pistol up at chest level, ready for anything.

In the quiet room, George could hear his partners breathing behind him, he imagined his breathing wasn't any quieter, but he wished they wouldn't make so much noise. Slowly, George walked up to the door near to the middle of the room on the wall opposite the lockers.

Cold air stole into the locker room as George opened the door to the nurse's office. A few feet away from the door, George saw the reason: a window was broken open and the curtains blew against the raging winds. In the corner of his eye, George saw Cindy shiver, he considered giving her his jacket, but realized that it was neither the time nor the place.

"Okay, let's just make our way over to the far corner of the room", George pointed off to where he referred to, "That door leads to the doctor's office. I can find something for David there." George instructed the two people with him as he walked further into the room. He heard the confirmation of the instructions behind him as he passed by a mobile, curtain, room separator. What he saw next made his heart drop. "Oh, Joan…"

The nurse lying dead at the desk was one of the only friends he had in the hospital other than Hursh. Working nearly as much as he did, the nurse was there to comfort him after his wife divorced him. She had been the closest thing to family George had in the past few weeks. He forced himself to look away, trying to act as if he spotted something in the distance to avoid unnecessary conversations about the subject. Cindy stared intently at Joan and then back at George.

"Are you alright?" She put a hand on his shoulder and took a step closer. George nodded, lost in his thoughts, and began to walk toward the doctor's office. Surreptitiously, George wiped away a tear as he reached for the door handle and opened the door.

Wafting in the air, the smell of medical supplies and Alconox was like a slap in the face. The stark contrast from death to what he smelled now, almost made George think he was back in reality. For a fleeting moment, he was pulled away from all of the horror and death, for a fleeting moment he escaped from the hell that was unleashed on his psych. Reality hit him like a punch as he felt Cindy put her hand on his back to coax him further into the room. Begrudgingly, George shuffled into the small room and began looting the cabinets.

Reading the labels, George pulled out a few bottles and tossed a few to the side. Plastic bottles and broken glass littered the floor when George was finished rummaging through the cabinets. He turned back to the examination table, where David sat, with three bottles and three needles.

"Okay, David, since I have no idea what this is, I'm just going to give you a couple cocktails of things that will help your body fight a bunch of infections. Basically, I'm just giving your body an arsenal to fight against an enemy we don't fully know." George said as he poked the needle through the first bottle and pulled the stopper until the needle filled with a clear liquid up to the desired volume. He pulled the needle out of the bottle, tested the viscosity by flicking the needle, and rid the needle of any air pockets by squirting a few drops out before injecting David with the needle. In quick succession, George did the same with the other two vials before turning back to the table and throwing out all the needles. "Now, I'm not sure that will kill the infection. Hell, I'm not even sure if that will do anything against whatever this is, but I suggest we all get those shots. Even if it's only to fight against anything that can get into the scraps and cuts we get."

When Cindy nodded, George turned back around and took three more vials from the stack he had set aside and gave Cindy the injections. Groaning, he also injected himself. He'd always hated needles, he didn't mind injecting others, or seeing people being injected, but he couldn't stand being stuck himself.

After the final needle, George grabbed enough needles and vials for the others and placed them in a messenger pouch he found on the table. As he pulled the messenger pouch off the table, something moved and fell to the floor. The metallic shaft reflected the light from the dimly lit room. George bent down to pick it up.

A smile spread across his lips when he felt the contour of the tool he knew intimately. His hand ran along the barrel and down to the trigger. Standing once more, he saw it better in the light; he checked 

the loader, sliding it back and forth. By his estimation, it would come in handy at one point. George placed the object in the messenger bag with the other tools of his trade.

"What was that?" Cindy asked, pointing to the messenger bag.

George's smile widened. "Capsule shooter."


	24. Chapter 24

George idly adjusted the strap on the messenger back as thoughts of the epidemic ran through his mind. He mentally compiled everything he knew about whatever was causing the rapid necrosis and subsequent decaying of the mind. Sadly, he wasn't a diagnostician, but he had been around enough to learn the nuisances of the profession.

When he shifted his weight, he heard the glass vials rattle around in the bag. "Oh, that's not good." He said to himself, looking at the bag. George opened the messenger bag he had found in the small doctor's office and laid the bag on the table with the other vials he had discarded. It would be necessary to cushion the vials somehow, so that none of them broke while in transit. All around the desolate room, nothing seemed to be useful in preventing glass from breaking. The only possible prospect for viable packing material was the sheet that covered the examination table. George groaned audibly as he pushed past David in an attempt to get at the roll of paper. Liberally, George pulled at the roll, gathering the excess paper into his hand. One-by-one, George individually wrapped the vials with the paper, folding the ends on opposite sides of the vials to provide maximum coverage.

After about ten minutes, all of the vials were wrapped and back in the messenger bag. Cindy waited patiently at the door until George was done packing. He tested the bag, shaking it enough to see if the vials would clang together. With what he gauged as light enough collisions, George nodded to her and she opened the door. Outside, the wind howled through the broken window, giving an air of foreboding to the room. George wanted to be out of the room as soon as possible, but he knew that first they would have to find that I.D. card. Looking to the far corner of the room, George avoided looking at Joan.

He swallowed past the lump forming in his throat and moved to the far corner. On the floor, he spotted a red plant growing inside a ceramic pot, lying on its side. He used his knife to snip the plant as far down on the stem as he could, the way Cindy had been doing it since the first plant she had showed him.

George rolled the red plant between his index finger and his thumb, watching as the leaves twirled in a dazzling spherical pattern. Suddenly, from behind, Cindy let out a bloodcurdling scream. George shot up, and turned around.

"Son of a bitch!" David cursed loudly; two gunshots rang out in the tiny room. A pool of blood quickly appeared underneath Joan's head, her hand clutching in a death grip to Cindy's hand. She had turned into one of those zombies. Somewhere, deep inside, George had known it had happened but he just couldn't bring himself to admit it when he first saw her. Now he put Cindy's life in danger because he clung to things in the past, things that meant nothing to his survival.

_Those zombies aren't the people they used to be anymore_, he reprimanded himself.

Cindy reached down and pried the hand off her wrist. She twirled her hand around, cracking her wrist before she reached down once more and retrieved what she had tried to get before. It was the key card they needed, "This it?"

When George nodded, she put the card in her pocket and took out her herb case. "Oh, my you're getting better."

Her warm smile made George forget about everything. He felt his face start to flush and he turned away. "Ah, well I learned it from someone who knows what they're doing." George handed Cindy the red herb and started to the door they had come in. "Well, we need to get back downstairs and find that padlock key". Cindy zipped the case back up and brought up the rear as they walked back into the locker room.

George stepped lightly out of the elevator as the doors rolled open. Half in a jog, he turned left and made his way down the corridor. With the I.D. card Cindy procured from Joan, George used the card reader to the right of the door and listened for the confirmation ding. He almost expected it to not work like everything else so far hadn't, but as soon as the card cleared the reader, a beep signaled that it had worked.

George turned to the other two, who were just passing the door to the computer room. "Well, what'd you know, it worked. I had half a mind to think it-" Before George could finish his thought, the gate to his right broke open, the zombie nurse moaned and grabbed him.

"George!" Cindy screamed. David instantly brought up his pistol, but hesitated.

"I can't get the shot." He growled and cursed, abandoning the hope and started to limp as fast as he could towards George.

George, now on his back fought off the nurse as best he could. He held her face just underneath the jaw and twisted it away. Unhindered by the feeble defense, the zombie clawed at his face. George turned his face away to avoid any damage. The nurse's jaws snapped and clicked with each failed attempt to bite him. Her weight, while not too heavy, was keeping George from pushing her off him. With the hand holding her jaw, George pushed the nurse up a full arm's length and locked his elbow.

With the pressure now off, George slipped his other hand down to his waist and grabbed his pistol. Before he even had a chance to use it, a gunshot rang out in the tiny hallway. Bits of brain matter soaked in blood were blasted out of a small hole in the nurse's head, coating the door George had just unlocked.

To George's left, David stood holding a smoking gun. Cindy crouched down and helped George roll the now dead nurse off him. "Are you alright?" Cindy asked as she dusted George off and looked for any wounds. He nodded absently and put his pistol back in his waistband.

"Thank you David." David replied with a grunt and offered George a hand. George took his hand and pulled himself up.

Through the door, the hallway was bathed in an eerie red glow. An alarm blared somewhere in the distance. The sounds of shuffling feet and moans could be heard close by. Each of the three survivors shared a worried look before turning back to the corridor. Almost immediately, they came upon an artificial corner made by the rows of piping from the boiler to their left. Idly, George held onto his pistol as he moved.

Slowly, they peered around the corner and saw a doctor, hunched over. With his pistol now out of his waistband, George called out half in a whisper. "Hey, hey, are you okay?"

He knew it was foolish to waste the element of surprise, but he wasn't going to shoot without being certain the doctor wasn't human. When the doctor replied with a hollow moan, George opened fire. He and David both shot only two shots and the doctor collapsed to the ground. The noise echoed in the hallway as if to challenge the sound of the alarm.

"I much prefer when they don't know we're here like that." Cindy said to no one in particular. As if on cue, more footsteps could be heard farther down the hall, around the corner where the doctor lay dead.

"Shit, the noise must've attracted them." David said shooting Cindy a glare. She shrugged and followed George around the pipes. Cautiously, they hugged the wall until they reached the edge, right before the turn. George took a breath and peered around the corner. Right in front of him, an undead nurse stood, mere inches from his face.

"Damnit!" George cursed as he fell backwards from the shock. The zombie nurse shuffled after George, ignoring the other two completely. David unceremoniously shot the zombie in the side of the head. She fell to her knees and then flat on her face.

"Why don't I take the lead from now on?"

George nodded, not willing to give any argument. When he got up, David was already halfway down the hall. He heard another shot ring out and David move down the hall to the door at the far end. As he passed by, George looked right and saw why the alarm was blaring. Inside the joining hallway, a fire had broken out, cutting off all access to that section of the maze of hallways.

The door squeaked open, giving way to a metal platform with the remnants of a half-eaten corpse. Mice still scurried around taking nibbles of the blood soaked flesh. Cindy quickly turned away and put her head into George's chest. He wrapped an arm around her, but didn't feel like he was much comfort because even with all of his medical training, the sight still sickened him as well. They followed the stairs down and around until they were stopped by a small stream of sewage water. The fetid water looked entirely disease ridden. Without being bashful, Cindy jumped in and started to wade her way through upstream. It struck George as odd, but he shrugged when David gave him a look and followed her into the water.

Cold water instantly found its way into even the deepest regions of George's underwear. He cringed at the uncomfortable feeling, but gritted his teeth and bared it. George heard a splash from behind him, followed closely by a yelp. Turning around, he saw David giving him a murderous glare.

"I swear, I _will_ kill you." He said as he purposefully pushed past George. George smiled, but refrained from laughing and pressed on as well. Not more than a few yards from where they had jumped in, George climbed up onto a small platform with a helping hand from Cindy. He smiled up at her as he stood up. In the corner, near some machinery for damming up the small river of sewage water, was a dead body, untouched by the rats because of the water.

In the hand of the corpse was a large metal ring with a tiny key hanging alone. George moved quickly to take the key, but hesitated. After so many encounters with the zombies, he realized he'd have to be more careful. Using his foot, George poked the corpse and finding it unresponsive, he quickly grabbed the key. With the key in hand, they had to only get back to the others and then use the boat. Hope filled George's thoughts, getting out of this hospital was just a little bit closer.


	25. Chapter 25

George sighed audibly as he let the pack gently fall to the floor. The others were sitting together on the far side of the room, next to a pile of debris. Alyssa was leaning against the wall; apparently, she hadn't found anything of use except for a few herbs, which she immediately gave to Cindy. Kevin gave George a glance before standing up.

"Find anything?" He asked, walking up to George. George supposed he hoped he hadn't so he could prove how stupid the idea to look for a key was when they could have just shot the lock.

"Yeah, here." George handed him the key and noted the shadow of a frown on his face. "And these."

George opened the pack and revealed the vials of antibiotics. "I really think you all should get one of these shots, it will help with any infections we may get from cuts and scrapes. It may also somehow cure this disease going around."

"What is it?" Yoko asked as she stood up and looked into the bag.

"Just a sort of antibiotic cocktail, it's got a bunch of different antibiotics that can fight off a range of infections. We usually give them to the hospital workers so they can't catch anything."

"Hey man, there's no way your sticking me with one of those." Jim shot up and crossed the room, to stand on the opposite side from George. "I don't know what shit you put in there."

"Relax Jim; it's just to help fight infection." George tried to calm Jim, but he had already worked himself into a state of fear.

"I don't know what's in them. I mean w…what if you just made a mistake or something?" Jim was looking at the others for support, but found none.

"Jim, don't be silly." Cindy chimed in, trying to convince him that his fears were irrational. Jim showed signs of falter in his logic, but didn't back down. George put a hand on Cindy's shoulder and whispered to her.

"Thanks for the help, but we better let him go. We can't force him to take it." George looked to Jim. "Okay, I won't make you take it, but this is your only chance, I'm not carrying it around with me."

George turned away from Jim and began drawing the clear liquid from each of the vials and injecting it into the other survivors, tossing empty vials and needles into the farthest reaches of the room, to avoid unnecessary injury. When everyone but Jim had been inoculated, George put the extra vial and needle on a metal shelf in the back. He gave Jim one last look to say that it was his last chance before turning away and going to the boat.

Kevin already had the padlock unlocked and the chain piled up not far away. He was ushering people into the boat. Being the last one in, Kevin sat at the motor and pulled the cord. With a growl, the motor jumped to a start and revved forward. Waves of sewage splashed into the boat, forming puddles of green water at the bottom of the boat.

As the boat rode on, George starred at Cindy. Her back was to him, but her fall of blond hair bounced with each wave. He couldn't help cracking a smile, he thought back to the time she had almost died in the inn and found himself glad he had been there to help her. He wanted to get out of this place, he wanted to be free, and maybe he would have a chance at a new life. Inwardly, he laughed, laughed at the thought of him, starting fresh. George wasn't so sure that'd he'd last with a new life. For some reason, the ghost of his past mistakes kept popping up whenever he would imagine it. Being a surgeon was all he knew, how could he hope to attain anything worthwhile, other than that. Chasing promotions and kissing up to the heads of his department were the only skills he had. George leaned back, caught in his thoughts.

"Oh, shit!" Mark cursed loudly at the front of the boat. He stood up and turned, climbing through the boat. It was then that George saw the thing. A monstrous shadow engulfed the rest of the tunnel, from wall-to-wall ceiling-to-floor. Instinctually, George copied Mark; he grabbed a hold of Cindy's shirt and pulled her up. She gave no resistance and was jumping out of the boat the same time as George.

Cold water slammed into George like a boulder as he fell face first into the sewage. With all of his effort, he tried to hold in the gasp of shock; drawing in a breath would mean death. In a matter of moments, he found the floor and pushed off, breaking the surface. He flicked his head to the side to get the water from his eyes and wiped the excess with his hand. Kevin and Mark both stood up next, followed closely by Cindy, David, Alyssa, Jim, and then Yoko.

A large explosion erupted down the tunnel as the boat ran into the monster at the end of the tunnel. Screeching, the giant leech stood to its full height. To George's surprise, it looked like a stomach, with the head pulsating every so often as it moved. A puss-like liquid oozed from the giant orifice where George assumed the head was. Suddenly it began shaking. The entire tunnel shook as the leech lunged forward, quickly closing the distance between it and the survivors.

"Get back!" Kevin screamed, pulling Yoko to her feet and pushing her back towards the way they had come. "Anyone with a gun shoot it, everyone else fall back!"

His screams didn't carry far as the leech let out another screech and lunged. Now no more than a few feet away, the leech stopped shaking and started to move slowly. George pulled the pistol out from his waistband and opened fire. Kevin, Mark, David, and Alyssa followed suit. The bullets hit, but seemed to do little damage. If anything, it only made the leech more visibly agitated.

"It's not working!" Alyssa shouted over the gunshots. "We need to find something else."

As the shots rang out, the leech continued to press forward, stopping every few feet to evaluate the situation. Mark grunted and moved back, as he turned around; he noticed something on the ceiling. A valve, connected to a steam line.

"Move!" He shouted to the others who were still shooting. When they heard him scream, they did as they were told. With the others out of the way, Mark took aim and squeezed off a round. The bullet knocked the valve off enough to build up pressure. In a few seconds, the valve shot off like a bullet and hit the leech. Scolding hot steam seared the skin of the leech. It let out a roar and stopped moving.

As it stood, everyone let off a few more shots before stopping to reload.

"I think that was pretty effective." George said, looking back to George. "Heat worked on the leechman as well, we need to find more of those."

"There's one more here." David said, pointing up above him. Mark nodded and moved back into place. "Shit, George watch out."

George looked back to the leech just in time to see it spit out the puss-like liquid. He moved back and dodged most of the liquid, but a little got on his leg. The sheer pain of it nearly made him lose consciousness. Staggering back, he moved with a sense of urgency as the leech spit out another bout of the acidic puss. Once he was behind Mark with the others, George waited. The leech stopped spitting, it looked as if, it was trying to force more of it from its gastric juices, but doing so took time. Instead, it attempted to close the distance again by lunging forward.

Mark met this attempt with a single shot. The valve again shifted enough to build up pressure in a small area. The force of the pressure sent the valve flying again, crashing down on the leech. Fine mists of steam sprayed onto the leech, again scorching its skin.

"It's working, but it's not enough!" Kevin said as he turned to run down the tunnel, looking for more things to use. He stopped suddenly near a gated part of the tunnel and rested his hand on a wide part of the pipe. "Over here, this thing is vibrating like crazy."

All as one, they ran to where Kevin stood and sure enough when George put his hand on the pipe, he felt the vibrations. At first, it wasn't noticeable, but George soon saw that the leech was hesitating. They were too far it was just staying in one place as if waiting for them to get closer.

"What's going on?" Alyssa asked after noticing the leech too.

"I think we're too far from it to really know where we are." George said, half to himself.

"Then we're going to have to lure it here." Mark said as he ejected his clip and checked his remaining munitions. When no one volunteered, Kevin stepped forward and took out his forty-five.

"Okay, I'll do it." He said and was off before anyone could object. Once Kevin was close enough, he opened fire. He baited the leech, getting only close enough for it to move forward, and changing the distance up so the leech had to lunge to close the distance. Kevin bobbed and weaved out of the puss-like acidic gastric juices from the leech whenever it spit.

Soon enough, Kevin had reached the vibrating pipe and moved to where the others had gone to safety. Mark stood, ready with his pistol aimed directly for the pipe. The leech shook violently once more, it seemed to be vibrating just as much as the pipe. With an ear-shattering screech, it lunged. At the same time, Mark squeezed the trigger. The bullet flew true and hit the pipe. Sparks shot out into the air a heartbeat before a roaring fire burst from the metal pipe. The shock wave forced George back, threatening to topple him over. Using his arms, he shielded his face from the extreme heat emitting from the ball of flames. Fire poured over the leech as it glided through the water.

Drops of skin tumbled off the leech after the flames died down. What once was a huge leech now had skin melting off, peeling and dripping into the sewage below. Yet still it moved.

"Damnit! That should have worked." David screamed in frustration. He raised his pistol started firing. George and Alyssa followed suit, each unloading their entire clips into the leech. When they heard the sounds of the clips clicking empty, they stopped firing and only stared at the leech. If their attack did any damage, it wasn't visible beyond the terrible mess that was already in a heap before them. From the looks of it, it began secreting a filmy liquid because of the burns.

George slid rounds into the empty magazine in his hands. The leech was at least momentarily stunned, giving them an opportunity to reload and plan out others means of killing the leech.

"Any other ideas?" George asked, pushing the last round into the clip and shoving it back into the butt of his pistol.

"There are some more pipes over here." Somewhere between the time George was shooting and he reloaded, Kevin had moved back to look further into the tunnel.

"That may hurt it, but not kill it." Alyssa stated as she too pushed her clip back into her pistol and cocked the gun.

"Hurting it is better than nothing." Mark said as he moved into position behind the valve.

George turned back to look at the leech. "Why don't you use this?"

It was Cindy's voice. George turned back around to see Cindy holding the gas canister that was lying next to the boat when they first came into the room.

"That may just work." Kevin had his hand on his chin as if he was contemplating how effective it might be. He gestured to the leech. "We'd need some way to get it over it though."

"I can do that." George said. It was simple really; all he would have to do it get close enough to throw it at the leech. Having the leech already injured helped too. Smiling, George took the can and thanked Cindy before looking at Mark. "Don't miss."

With a nod, George turned around and started back down the tunnel towards the leech. His heart hammered inside of his chest so loud that it reminded him of the vibrating pipe. Each step felt like it might be his last, as the leech grew larger in his view. He could better see the disfiguration caused by the explosion. Chunks of flesh were missing and purple-black goo formed over those areas like a disgusting shell. An amber colored liquid cascaded out of the porous epidermis, making the leech look like it was covered in an off-colored watery substance.

As soon as George was only a few feet away from the leech, it suddenly jerked up, the head-like top, staring right at him. With all of his might, George tossed the gas can and dove backwards into the water. Everything became muffled. He wasn't sure if he would feel the leech crashing down on him, he hoped Mark would shoot the gas can in time.

All of a sudden, the air was knocked out of him and he was thrust forward, scraping along the ground as he was pushed faster forward. His lungs burned with the sudden need to breath, but he fought the sensation. The world whirled around him, spinning out of control. Short bursts of pain shot up his limbs as each one banged into the walls on either side of him.

Then, just as soon as it had happened, it stopped. George floated somewhere in limbo between consciousness and unconsciousness. He wasn't sure which way was up and which was down, but he needed to get out of the water soon. Panic gripped him on the brink of insanity. The need for oxygen burned deep within him. For a split second, he considered giving in to the instinctual response and gulping in the water. He knew better though, water was no substitute for air. Pushing and pulling, George was drowning in less than three feet of water.

He splashed around, hoping that he would pick the right direction. Painfully, his head smacked against the bottom of the tunnel. The world started to go black; he wasn't going to make it. Something pulled at him, he was certain the leech just wanted to get at his dead body, he tried to fight it, but his strength wasn't up to the fight. His only two choices were drowning or being eaten, either way he was to die. More impatiently, the leech gnawed at him. Half-heartedly, he swiped at the attempt. It grabbed a hold of his jacket and yanked him abruptly to the surface.

George coughed sporadically, sucking in bouts of air greedily. Somewhere off in the distance, he heard his ears pop. Lights danced before him, only to be blocked by the shadows. Slowly, his vision began to come into focus. George squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to get them to focus faster. When he opened his eyes, Mark was still holding him upright and saying something George couldn't hear.

"-right?" Mark's mouth worked out the words; he repeated them over and over. "Are you alright?"

Finally, George was able to make out the words, but he couldn't find his voice to respond, so he just nodded. He saw the others who had run away in the beginning standing around. All seven people stood over him, staring, concern etched on each of their faces. They all had really come far.

Jim was looking sheepish and was holding something George couldn't make out. When he noticed George looking, he held up what he was holding. "If you don't mind, maybe that shot wouldn't be so bad."

George tried to chuckle, but only coughed up some more water.


	26. Chapter 26

George waded through the waist-deep water, trying his best to ignore the aching pain in his leg. Luckily, when the giant leech spit the acid, George's pants withheld the majority of the damage. However, through the new hole in his pant leg, George could see the reddened skin reacting to the potent mixture. It was ironic he thought, going to the hospital posed a larger hazard to his health than the streets.

Regardless, he was thankful that they were safe for the time being. Ever on guard, Kevin had his forty-five still firmly gripped in his hand, even though they hadn't run across any monsters down in the sewers after the encounter with the giant leech. He seemed on edge --maybe George was just mixing up caution for fear.

As they passed through tunnel after tunnel of similarly painted sewers, George began to think they were lost. How they could get lost going relatively straight and only turning when there was no other option, was beyond George, but lost they were. He sighed as he tightened his grip on his split pants, trying to hold them closed so the wound wasn't exposed. It felt like his entire body was on fire, broken, and possibly worse. Pain was his constant companion, following him everywhere throughout this ordeal. Once it was all said and done though, he had to be glad to still be alive. George could handle discomfort and pain as long as his life was still his.

After what seemed an eternity, they finally came upon a locked gate. The padlock hung a short distance down from a length of chain. Considering for only a moment, Kevin brought up his pistol, but hesitated. "I can shoot this one right?"

George caught the sarcasm in his voice, but ignored it and nodded his approval. Taking a step back, George held his ears as Kevin let off a controlled shot from his pistol. The lock broke open and clanged to the bottom of the sewage where it hit with a dull thud. Kevin looked back to George to convey a silent message of "I told you so". George waited while Kevin pushed open the gate and walked through. The tunnel seemed suddenly to open up. A pathway went off to the left toward a ladder and another platform. Above the ladder, a fan spun rapidly, cutting off any entrance to the shaft. In front of them, another gateway stood, but beyond that was what looked like a rusted door on top of another platform.

"So, which way?" Yoko asked, looking between their two options as she asked.

"I say we go straight, I don't like the idea of turning now. There's a doorway up ahead and we should check it out before going off on random whims." David pointed to the rusted door as he spoke. George saw the logic in his reasoning. These tunnels were like a maze, anyone could easily get lost in here. By pure luck, they had found what looked like a way through and George didn't want to give up what they had to go on fantasies.

A short silent debate happened amongst themselves, after which they decided to continue straight through the rusted door. When Cindy started to climb onto the platform, George cupped his hand for her to step in, pushing her up as she climbed. She smiled back down to him and offered her hand to help him up as well.

Once through the door, the scenery didn't change much. Rusted concrete walls were replaced by compacted dirt and a makeshift wooden walkway. The startling change made George think that it was built hastily and meant not to be seen by the layperson. Little vibrations in the surrounding area caused small portions of dirt to float to the ground in a fine powder. George brushed some dirt off his jacket as the floor below him turned from dirt to concrete suddenly. In front of him, a large tram hung from a thick wire suspended over a small drop below.

Mark let out a low whistle and Jim cursed at the sight. Along with the tram was a shelf full of useless materials that was positioned on the wall closest to where they stood. Next to the tram was a control panel, George assumed it was for the tram and possibly the lights that were installed the entire length of the chasm. George walked to the side of the tram opposite the control panel and leaned over the railing.

By his estimation, the chasm was big enough to warrant the tram, but not big enough, that if necessary they could walk through it with only minor difficulty. The only problem with that was that he couldn't accurately see into the darkness. For all he knew, it could lead right out into the river.

Suddenly, the lights flickered on and the tram hummed to life. Kevin came into view from around the other side of the tram and checked the doors. They rolled to either side and revealed the inside of the tram. One-by-one they all piled in and sat down on the chairs, with only enough seating for most of them, David stood. Kevin flipped a switch in the front of the car, and with a jolt, the tram began to move.

"So, anyone have any idea where this thing could lead?" Alyssa asked aloud. George noted that Yoko looked uncomfortable, but didn't say anything. She mopped her brow and hugged her backpack to her stomach, feeling for something without trying to look suspicious. George was uneasy about her, but decided to keep it to himself; she had proven to be less than malicious on more than one occasion.

"Maybe it's just a maintenance shaft; we've got some of those at the subway station." Jim suggested, but by the tone in his voice, George wasn't sure Jim believed what he was saying himself. David cast him a don't-be-so-stupid glance before responding.

"This is a little high tech for a simple maintenance shaft don't you think? I mean, it's really remote and not at all efficient for those purposes." David folded his arms and leaned against the wall, but didn't offer any other suggestions himself.

"Well, seeing as how it looked to be built in a hurry and out of the way, I'd say we weren't meant to find it. Which means, we're not supposed to find what's on the other side as well." Cindy seemed to sum up exactly what George was thinking. He smiled inwardly that they had had the same train of thought, but quickly caught himself. They were about to enter some place unfamiliar and possibly met by people who didn't want them there. It was no time to be thinking about Cindy. Nevertheless, what other time would he have?

The weight of Cindy's words hung thick in the air. Everyone was contemplating the severity of the implications if she were to be right. Somehow, they would have to convince those people that they needed refuge, that they needed a way out of the city. They would have to explain what was going on in the city. Even if they didn't believe them at first, with enough people they would have to believe them at some point.

What if they believed it was a prank? No, no one would even know about this place.

George had a sudden flash of realization. What if the place they were going was already infected? What if the zombies were there too? Could the zombies get to a place so secure? While the questions piled in around him, George could see the same questions etched on the faces of those around him. Was there really any safe places left in this forsaken city?

The tram came to a sudden stop and George felt Cindy grab his hand. He squeezed her hand, trying to reassure her that he wouldn't leave her. She flashed him a private smile of thanks before getting up and leaving the tram.

Shadows danced along the wall as a light flickered near a doorway to their right. Since the platform only had one working light, the rest of the area was bathed in darkness. George rested his hand on the grip of his pistol, waiting for a creature to attack from places unseen. As they passed through to the door, George kept shooting a glance back at the tram, still wondering what trouble they were approaching.

An odd sort of hallway was just beyond the platform, crenate walls stretched down the hall until it reached a junction. Around the corner, was another short distance before a T-intersection. Everyone stopped suddenly when they heard the familiar muffled moans and shuffling of feet. George's heart hammered in his throat, hoping he misheard what he thought were the sounds of the undead. Somewhere deep down, he knew that they couldn't have all misheard the sounds. Before he realized it, his pistol was in both hands, aiming at the intersection. He noticed that the others too had weapons drawn, staring down the hallway. Their faces displayed the same heart wrenching fear that tried to make them back away.

Despite the fear, they inched closer, driven not by their courage, but by their instinctual need to get to safety. Kevin headed the pack because he was already in the front before they heard the noises. George almost laughed, part of him was happy he was scared. This fear meant he wasn't getting used to the killings, he wasn't becoming desensitized. Maybe when he was out of here, he might be able to lead a relatively normal life. Not being able to push himself back into the heart of the group, Kevin resided to his appointed position and hugged the wall, inching closer to the intersection with each passing heartbeat. His forty-five was raised up to his face, with his elbows bent near his ribs. Slowly, he came up to the corner and heaved an audible sigh. Taking one last look at everyone, he peered out around the corner.

Nothing.

No movement, no bodies, nothing that sounded like it could make those sounds were in the adjacent corridor. Kevin began to garnish a little of his natural courage and peeked his head out farther. In one swift movement, he pivoted around the corner and brought the gun down in front of him. His feet moved with a trained efficiency. The rest of the group followed his lead around the corner. Before long, Kevin came up to another corner and motioned for Mark and Alyssa to take a look down the opposite 

corridor to the one he was about to go down. As they followed his silent instructions, George adjusted his weight to his other leg and brought the pistol up, aiming it at the opening of the corner. If anything was going to pop out, he was determined to be ready. Kevin noticed and gave him a nod of approval, a silent thank you. He breathed deeply, watching as Kevin peered around the corner, but by the way he relaxed, he didn't see anything. Swiftly, he pivoted again and brought the gun around with his body, facing the empty hallway. On the far side, a ladder rose up along the wall to a manhole cover. Lights flickered, giving the hallway a foreboding feeling.

Alyssa screamed.

Wind licked past George's face; before he knew it, he was running at a break neck speed down the long hallway. He flew past the T-intersection and stumbled for only a split second before righting himself. Falling now could cost him; he reprimanded himself as he rounded the corner, with his pistol in the lead. Mark stood over Alyssa, trying to pry a zombie off her. He used his weight as leverage to try to fling it onto its back. Using the zombie's shoulder, he pulled.

Quicker than Mark could react, the zombie turned its head and sunk its teeth into Mark's hand. Mark recoiled and grabbed his injured hand. With Mark out of the way, George trained the pistol on the zombie's head and squeezed the trigger. A single hole pierced the zombie's forehead and blood poured out of the wound on both sides of its head. Alyssa pushed the zombie off with a grunt and rolled to the side.

Mark's eyes were wild; he knew what this meant. Almost instantaneously, Kevin brought up his forty-five and aimed at Mark. George reacted and stepped in front of the gun.

"Stop" George put his hand on Kevin's gun, but Kevin didn't lower it.

"He's infected, we can't have him around. While, he's been useful to us, he's a liability now. You saw what a bite did to Will at the bar." Kevin glanced at Cindy quickly, seeing the ghost of the incident in her eyes.

"Well, it's not only him that's infected then. Most of us are by now." George felt the phantom pains of the bite marks on his own arms. "We need to find a cure, that's the only way."

"There is no cure, George. It's hopeless to cast away our safety for that pursuit." Kevin paused, waiting for what George might say.

"Why? Why are you giving up so easily? If it comes down to it, we can shoot those who are turning, but until that time, they're useful to us all. We need to stick together, or we will _all_ die." George raised his hands once more, but didn't touch Kevin or his gun. "Look, we don't know anything about this disease or virus or whatever it is, assuming the worst might get us all killed. Until we know more about it, we can't and we shouldn't do anything rash."

Kevin looked as though he was seriously considering George's heated words. After a short while, he looked around and noticing he was alone in his thinking, lowered his gun.

"I'm sorry Mark." Kevin said, putting the gun away in its holster. George put his own pistol back in his pants and turned to Mark, who nodded. Now that the immediate threat was over, George walked up to Mark and looked at his bleeding hand. He was happy to see that it was still bleeding; the rapid coagulation from Will's bite didn't seem to be affecting Mark. That could only mean either the bites weren't the cause for infection, or the infection spread through people at different rates. George tore a little bit of Mark's shirt off and wrapped his hand in the bandage.

"We can't stay here, if we are infected, it won't take too long for the infection to spread. It might even become incurable." George didn't want to sugar coat it for them; they needed to know the truth. Only once they knew the severity of their situation could they make rational decisions as to how they are going to find a way out.

"There's that ladder over there, it seems to be our only escape route, and frankly, I'd like to be out of here sooner than later." David grumbled, pointing down the other way. Everyone mumbled their concurrence and shuffled down the other way, now demoralized by the revelation that even if they make it out of the city, they may not survive. This whole ordeal looked to be a lot less hopeful and a lot more dangerous to George.

It broke his heart to have to tell them about how important a cure was in such a crude fashion, but he didn't want them to find out when it was too late that they may not live through this. His heart was as hollow as the metallic ding from the ladder as he climbed.

Once he was through the manhole, he saw what looked to be a larger version of the control panel for the tram. Since it looked similar, he assumed the mechanism it controlled would be similar to the tram. They may have a way out of the city yet, but finding the cure was going to be the real tough part.

George moved out of the way, allowing Yoko a chance to climb through the hole. She didn't look surprised by the room, and it looked as if she thought she might recognize it.

"You ever been here?" George asked her as he pulled her aside. She looked confused and a little frightened, by his question.

"N…no, it just looked like something from where I used to work, that's all." He wasn't completely satisfied by her response, but let it slide for now. He had more important things in his mind than what Yoko may or may not know. Off in the distance, David growled and cursed as he looked at the panel.

"Damn things got no key to start the tram car." He pointed through the window and low and behold, there was a tramcar stationed on a circular platform that looked like it was mobile. "We have to find _that_ too?"

George let out a sigh of frustration, but he wasn't all together surprised. David shrugged and waved a hand at the panel before turning and leaving through the door that led to the room outside. As they piled out, a voice came from behind.

"Well, well, well if it isn't Yoko…"


	27. Chapter 27

A woman dressed in a tan uniform walked out from the shadows with a pistol trained on Yoko. By her mischievous smirk, George knew she wasn't one to be trifled with. The woman moved only close enough for them to see her and her weapon.

"Yoko, I thought you left, or died, whichever. It's all the same to me anyway." The woman waved her other hand as she spoke.

"Monica?" Yoko looked confused like she didn't understand why she knew the woman.

"Yes Yoko, now I'm sorry but, you'll have to excuse me, I was on my way out until I found you." Monica started to walk past the group, giving them a wide berth. She stopped and held up her index finger. "Oh, there is one thing I will need form you however. Your I.D. card, give it to me."

Yoko hesitated, but when Monica shot at the floor next to Yoko, Yoko jumped and tore through her backpack. When she found what she needed, Yoko walked sheepishly up to Monica, holding the I.D. card in both hands. Monica ripped the card from Yoko's grasp and ran to the tram.

A loud humming started from the tramcar and in less than a couple of seconds, a loud siren echoed in the small structure. Locks clicked in place and the front of the platform folded inward, creating a sort of barrier for the inhabitants of the tramcar. With a screech, the tram began to descend the shaft, disappearing quickly. Sparks could be seen down the shaft as the tram vanished when it got too far down the hole.

George sighed and kicked himself for passing off Yoko's hesitation for things he thought were more important. They now had no way out and going back to the sewers wasn't an option for them. By this time, it would be overrun or even if it wasn't they were going to have to risk a whole lot to try to find another way down there.

He turned to Yoko to see her staring off away from the rest of the group. Kevin and Alyssa were both glaring at her, angry that she failed to mention she knew the area.

"So, that woman, who was she?" Alyssa growled. Her demeanor was dark, almost violent.

"She…she works for Umbrella." Yoko suddenly looked like a sheep in a lion's den.

"This is an Umbrella facility then?" Alyssa put her hand on her hip. Yoko only nodded. "Don't you think you might have wanted to tell us that you knew where we were going?"

"I…I'm sorry, I've tried to get away from here, I didn't want anyone to abandon me because of all of this. We were going to get out, when I saw the tram I just knew and I thought that maybe it would be safe." Yoko dry washed her hands as she spoke. "I didn't know Monica was here or anyone else. I thought they would have abandoned this lab and we could just pass through."

"Are you seriously that stupid?" Alyssa pinched the bridge of her nose. "You think that they would just leave a laboratory like this?"

Yoko looked down, away from Alyssa's heated glare. George realized this wasn't Alyssa speaking, but the reporter inside demanding answers. He stepped up to Alyssa and put a hand on her shoulder, begging for patience. She turned to him, ready for murder, but calmed when he gave her only a nod and a smile. Cindy stepped up to Yoko and lifted her chin.

"What goes on down here?" She asked, sounding much like a mother asking information from a child.

"I…I don't really remember." Yoko was more frightened by that, than by the idea of being back here. "I just remember that I think I worked here. I don't know what I did, but it must've been important."

Cindy nodded and continued. "Is there any other way down into the lab?"

Yoko considered for a minute, and then scrunched her nose. She pushed past Cindy and walked up to the empty shaft. For a minute, she looked around and leaned over the edge a bit. Pointing she began to 

speak. "There's a room over there, I've never been in it, but I think it's for the security team. There might be a way to call the tram back up in there."

Yoko moved onto a slightly hidden lift and waited. "Not everyone can fit on this, so maybe George and Cindy should come too."

Without saying a word, George moved to the lift, he knew Yoko only suggested them because they had just stopped Alyssa from killing her. He held out his hand and helped Cindy onto the lift. Yoko pushed a small button and the lift descended to a small pathway that was obscured by the tramcar platform before.

An all-metal door stood in front of them after only a few steps. Opening it, George saw what looked to be monitors placed haphazardly around the room, in the center was a pathway suspended by wires. They walked around until they came to a group of monitors stationed above chairs and control panels. George looked around, but didn't see anything at all that could call the tramcar back to this level. All that was here was a bunch of surveillance equipment for the facility. On one monitor, George could see the others, standing around looking impatient and nervous.

Yoko picked something off the wall. "There are keys here, two of them actually." She held up the key and pointed to the other copy on the wall.

"What do you think they go to?" Cindy asked as she took the key from Yoko's hand. She flipped it over and read the inscription on the back. "Control room."

"I'd assume that's what we need then." George said matter-of-factly. As they began moving, something flashed on a screen that displayed a large cylindrical shaft with three metal bridges reaching from doors to a large, circular, platform in the center of the area. Just as quickly as it came, it was gone. George took note of the room, mentally. He'd learned not to disregard things he felt weren't completely important recently and so he didn't want to make the same mistake twice.

The lift hummed as it ascended the small distance between the two levels. George jingled the keys to get David's attention and threw him the keys. "They're to the panel you were looking at earlier; it should raise the tram back up."

David left without a word through the door they had come through. Within a minute, David had the control panel working and tram was on its way back up. He came back out of the control room and ran his hand through his hair. "It should be coming back up now."

After a while, the familiar sparks and metal scraping against metal echoed in the large, hollow structure. When the platform came to a stop and the metal flaps locked in place again, the survivors all piled into the tram, Jim being the last one on turned the key that was still in the ignition. A siren blared once again, causing Jim to jump. He scrambled onto the little rise and walked through the door. Once inside, everyone took a seat and waited as the tram descended the shaft.

Kevin began discussing their plans for how to get out of this place with David. David agreed that there had to be another way out in case of an emergency. As the two of them decided on where to look, talking about the prospect of splitting up once more to cover more ground, George's thoughts turned to the video feed.

Something about that quick flash on the monitor didn't sit well with him. For some reason, that quick flash was more ominous than he could fathom. Deep in the back of his mind, caution flared telling him to be wary in this place. Why was it that they only encountered one person so far? With the zombies outside of the facility, it was a wonder they hadn't found more of them around, but there was one person still alive down here. Where there was one person, more usually followed.

Would they all be hostile though? Yoko seemed to know her, she said she remembered working down here, maybe there was some pandemonium going on, and that woman just wanted to seek refuge in a place she thought was safe. He knew he was just speculating, there was no evidence to support any of his whimsical fantasies, but try, as he might, fear was letting his mind run away.

George combed his hand through his hair, trying to calm his thoughts, in an attempt to divert his attention; he stole a glance at Cindy. She looked to be in the same trance he was. When he looked over at her, she noticed him and smiled a tight-lipped smile. His world seemed a little warmer when she smiled. Forcing a smile through the depth of his despair, George looked away, not wanting to display any form of uncertainty around her. He looked through one of the small windows in the tram; he knew they were only for decoration as the only thing they showed was miles of metal piping and wires whizzing by as the tram fell deeper into the bowels of the facility.

Suddenly, sparks shot out from all around and the tram began to slow. Somewhere among the tangle of pipes and wires an opening spanned a large gap, revealing what looked like another room and some elevator doors at the far end of the room. As the tram came to a halt, the door clicked unlocked, allowing them free access to the new room.

David let out a low whistle. "Pretty big place they have down here."

"It's some sort of lab." Yoko said, looking around. "I don't really remember much of what's down here, but I think if I might be able to recognize a few things."

"What exactly did you do down here?" Kevin asked; his suspicion peaked.

"As I've said, I don't remember much. I remember being down here, but after that I can't recall very much." She stroked her chin. "All I can say is that I was down here at one time, and then I just woke up at a hospital."

"The hospital we just came from?" George asked, not sure, he remembered seeing her there at any time recently. Although the hospital was relatively big and unless she came to surgery, he might never have seen her. Yoko shook her head nonchalantly.

"No, it was different. I remember seeing woods and a cabin. When they took me out of there we had to go on paths that didn't look traveled often." She frowned when she couldn't remember anything else. When she noticed everyone still staring at her, she shrugged. "I'm sorry, but nothing else comes to mind."

Kevin grunted and walked over to the door in a sign on the door read: **Infirmary**.

The door was locked, so Kevin tried the elevator. When he pressed the button and nothing happened, he deduced that the elevator was out. One his way back to the group, he stopped and looked down a 

hall that was partially obscured from George's view by the wall. Kevin pointed down and looked back at the rest of them. "There's a door here, it looks like the only way to go."

"Then let's just get the hell out of this place." Alyssa said as she squeezed past the others in an attempt to get to the door before anyone. The others followed her as she went. A single metal door stood at the end of the hallway; there were no hinges on the door. Alyssa stopped at the door and felt around, trying to open the mysterious door. She moved her hands, looking for a door handle, but when she could find none, she backed away slightly and shrugged. Yoko, staring at the door, reached out and placed a hand on the door, where a handle would have been and pressed down. She dragged her hand to the right and the door slid open effortlessly. Alyssa let out a forceful, terse breath before looking back to the door.

A soft mist billowed out from the other side of the door. It felt like the temperature dropped thirty degrees. As George breathed, the condensation from his breath became visible in the cold air. Cindy wrapped her arms around each other and rubbed up and down, futilely trying to regain all the warmth she just lost. When they stepped through the doorway, George froze.

They were on a little metal pathway, leading to what looked like a larger hub in the middle of the room. On the far side of the hub, another pathway led further down, on the right of the hub was a third pathway that led to another door, bathed in a warm red glow. It was the room from the monitor.

George's level of awareness rose exponentially, he looked all around for the thing that flashed in the monitor, but saw nothing. Their footsteps echoed as they walked. Once inside the hub, George saw that there was a peculiar looking device in the middle, with three locking arms and some sort of plug in the middle. It looked much like an oversized circuit breaker, with only one socket.

"Where do we go now, man?" Jim looked between the two paths and then to Yoko. She shook her head, remembering as much about the layout of the facility as Jim knew about it. Jim let out a long, audible sigh and took out a quarter from his pocket. "Why don't we flip on it?"

George gave Jim an are-you-stupid look, but thought better of his reaction. It was a valid point, they didn't know where they were, and even less, about where they were going, what could it hurt to dictate they direction by Jim's coin? When nobody said anything against it, Jim assigned the blue path heads and the red tails and flipped the coin. With his other hand, he caught the coin and slapped it down on 

the back of his flipping hand. When he pulled off his hand, the coin displayed an eagle spreading its wings out over the coin.

"Blue it is," Jim said casually as he put the coin back in his pocket. They walked down the pathway; George was constantly looking over his shoulder for whatever was on that monitor. As they approached the door, Alyssa mimicked what Yoko had done and pushed in the door. It slid to the side easily, revealing a dark corridor beyond.

Just down the hall was another intersection, but to their right a foldable metal shutter was rolled down, with the card reader to the right. It looked as though they would first have to find a card that would unlock that door before they could get in. To their left, the hallway continued down for a bit before it ended. At first George thought it was a dead-end, but upon further inspection, he saw that the wall was turned just enough to conceal a set of large metal doors.

Near the middle of the hallway, frost was starting to build on the walls and floor, making it look almost as if they were walking into a massive refrigerator; coincidentally, it felt that way also. This door was different from the others; it had a circular handle and hinges. Mark took hold of the handle and turned it, a loud click could be heard from inside and the door pushed open with a hiss. A thick fog rolled out of the room as Mark walked in, pushing the door open.

Surprisingly, the room seemed almost bare. Some shelves to the right had a few supplies on them, but other than that, the room was devoid of anything worthwhile. In the corner, George noticed a first aid spray, but decided against taking it, in this freezing temperature, the spray would be frozen and useless even if thawed. When they wandered around the shelves, George had to contain a yelp; his hand was on his pistol.

At what looked to be a control panel of some sort, was a body, frozen to the panel. Its hand was on a lever and was apparently frozen to it because of the temperature. When he dared to look closer, the panel had knobs and buttons all displaying different temperature gauges.

"Looks like he was trying to either thaw the place or freeze it, I'm not sure." He said as he leaned over the body to get a look at some more gauges. "We might be able to thaw the place out from here."

"Why? Why should we go and try that now, I mean it's not like we need to." Kevin said, looking at the others for support.

"He's got a point, George." David agreed. "It's not hindering us in anyway, just leave him be."

"It was only an observation." George shrugged, mentally brushing off their comments. "It seems like the only thing in here anyway."

With a moan, the others agreed and decided to head out. "I don't know about you guys, but I think we need to find a map of this place or something." Jim said as they reached the intersection once more. "I don't like wandering around here aimlessly. I'd rather we just planned out a course and stuck to it."

"I can't say I don't feel the same way." Alyssa looked a lot less sure of herself suddenly. "This place just gives me the creeps. Something about it isn't right."

"We should probably find a way to unlock everything too." David pointed out, looking at the shutter before him.

"Alright then." Kevin stopped just short of the door to the connecting room. "We should find a map, then a way to unlock any obstacle in our path."

With a nod of approval, he turned back to the door and opened it. Strange noises suddenly sounded above. Dust particles dropped lazily from the air above. Out of nowhere, a moth the size of a small car dropped down. Its wings were a peculiar shade of brown, but George couldn't see details as it tucked its wings in and picked up Kevin. Kevin let out a loud scream as the moth effortlessly whisked him away and plummeted down the shaft. As they both fell, Kevin's screams died out.

"Shit!" Jim screamed, leaning over the guardrail. "We've got to find him!"


	28. Chapter 28

Jim's eyes were wide as he looked back at the others. "What're we going to do?"

George's mind raced as fast as his breathing. None of them knew the layout of the facility, the shaft could lead to anywhere in this maze. He looked to Yoko; she looked pained, almost as if she were trying to will herself to know where it led.

"Yoko…" George's voice trailed off when she raised up a hand to stop him. Idly, he fiddled with the zipper on his raincoat, while eyeing the room for anymore of those moths. Mentally, he kicked himself for not being more wary of this room. He had seen the monitor and hadn't told anyone, it was his fault that Kevin was now lost somewhere in this lab, possibly dead. George leaned over the railing, somehow hoping to be still able to catch a glimpse of Kevin and where he had fallen.

"We need to find where this shaft leads." David's face was tight with worthy and his eyes searched the area down the shaft as he spoke. He stood suddenly and started towards the only pathway they hadn't gone down yet.

"W…wait, shouldn't we figure out what to do first?" Alyssa called after him. David turned around as he walked, not stopping to talk.

"We're not doing anything standing around here, the best we can do is try to find a way down. Standing here isn't going to help us." With that last word, David turned and continued through the large hub in the middle of the room and onto the other pathway. Everyone looked at each other, and then a silent wave of agreement came over them. In one large group, the remaining survivors followed David into the next path.

The next hallway looked very similar to the other hallway, but as they reached the T-intersection, the changes began. To their right, instead of being blocked by a shutter, the hallway continued. At the end of the hallway were two doors that were both locked. Down the other way, instead of a cold frosty dead-end, a single doorway stood at the very end of the hall. Deciding not to dwell on what could be in the locked doors, they went through the door at the end of the hall.

George had to catch his breath and hold in a gasp at the sight. Growing all along the wall to their right was a gigantic plant, which spanned from floor to ceiling in the connection shaft. George could tell from 

the shocked faces around him, that the others were considering the threat level of the plant as well. Holes pocked the plant, they looked like sores that erupted and left the damage forever marring the plant's surface. A clear liquid oozed from each hole, turning a reddish color after being in contact with the air for a few minutes. George could see rivulets of dried liquid staining the plant reaching yards down from each hole.

His breath was caught in his chest as George weighed their options. Going anywhere near, this plant seemed to be a death sentence, yet not descending the ladders would be murdering Kevin. Luckily, the plant's vines hadn't snaked up the nearest ladder that led down one more level. Quickly but carefully, each one climbed down the ladder, all the while casting prudent glances to the stolid plant.

Once on the lower floor, they piled through the nearest door and into the hallway beyond. Inside, they came face-to-face with another wall instantaneously. The room opened up to their left into a dead-end.

"Great, what now?" Jim asked, flumping his hands on his thighs. He put his hand against the cold wall blocking their path. David rested his elbow in his upturned palm, tapping his lip as he looked around the room. Nothing looked out of place, but the only exit was the door they had come through. David sighed and turned to the others.

"It looks like we have to turn back." David motioned around them. "There's no place to-"

Before he could finish, Yoko screamed. At her feet was a zombie, trying to crawl its way through a small ventilation shaft. George pulled out his pistol, but David put his hand on George's. "The room's too small; you could hit one of us."

George grumbled that he understood and replaced the pistol with his folding knife. He pushed past David and stabbed the monster in the head, twisting the blade. With a metallic pop, the blade snapped and the zombie stopped moving.

"Damnit!" George cursed loudly, looking at the stub where the knife's blade used to be. He tossed the useless handle to the side and kicked the zombie over. With his shoe, George inched the zombie away from the ventilation shaft.

"Well, to be honest, that blade wasn't meant for stabbing people." David commented when he helped George move the body.

"Wait, I'm not sure we should just be running off to a new place, without first checking what was farther down that ladder." George said, looking back to the door that led to the shaft with the giant plant.

"Yeah, man. What if this leads to a dead-end?" Jim said, pointing to the ventilation shaft opening.

David looked at Jim and George before growling. "Alright, Yoko, Jim, and Mark, we can go down the ladder. That way we spread out the fire power and if one of us finds Kevin or a dead-end, we can just come back to the shaft here and meet up." David looked to each one, hoping they would agree with him. "Okay?"

With a few nods, David and the others left through the door to the shaft. Alyssa knelt down beside the newly discovered opening and looked through. "It looks like it opens up into another hallway or something." She laid down on her stomach and serpentined her way through the hole. On the other side, Alyssa called back to them that it was clear. George, being the next closest followed Alyssa's example and crawled through. In the next hallway, George saw that it turned slightly, blocking his view of the other end. He heard what sounded like a metallic scraping coming from down the hall.

George took out his pistol and walked down the hallway. About halfway down, a zombie was inching its way across the floor, trailing a line of intestines as it crawled. With a single shot, George put the zombie down.

"You okay?" He heard someone call from back at the vent.

"Yeah, just had to get a straggler." George put the pistol back in his pants and waited for the others to catch up. He knew time was against them and not knowing where they were going wasn't helping the matter.

In the corner of the room there was another ventilation shaft leading farther into the network of hallways. For a second, George wondered why these halls even existed, they were too hard to reach for normal means of getting around, and yet they appeared to lead somewhere. He pushed the thought from his mind as he dropped down to his knees and bent over. Slowly, he inched his way into the opening and looked through to the other side.

His caution flared when he looked out, next to the opening was a body of someone dressed in a researcher's garb. The man wasn't moving, but George couldn't be too sure he wasn't already dead. To put his mind at ease, George trained his pistol on the man's head as he slid out of the hole. For the entire time, the man did not move.

George jumped up and nudged the body. The man stirred awake.

"W…who are you?" He asked.

"You're alive." George realized it sounded more like a statement than a question.

"Surprised?" The man looked up at George the best he could, but looked to be too much in pain to adequately give George his attention.

"What happened here?" George knelt down beside the man and put is pistol away. He noticed that the man's arms were crossed against his abdomen.

"W…well, we were doing some experiments down here a…and" He stopped to draw in a few ragged breaths before continuing. While he was trying to catch his breath, the others started to shimmy their way through the small hole. "One of the s…specimen got out and k…killed one of our researchers. T…then a…all this began to happen. We thought we had it under control, but i…it was too powerful for us to handle, we weren't prepared. Once all hell had broken loose, one of the men froze the whole damn place, to prevent a leak to the outside."

When the man went into a fit of coughing, George put his hand on his shoulder. "What kind of research are you doing down here?"

The man was a minute in answering; he looked to be considering not telling George, even in death. "B…biological weapons."

"Like, diseases in such?" George felt suddenly angry, why was all this going on within the city? Who authorized all of this? What kind of monsters would develop something to cause this sort of destruction?

"In a matter of speaking…yes. We altered a virus with different DNA from different hosts, creating weapons capable of mass destruction. It was all going according to plan, with the specimen in stasis chambers when someone made a mistake and accidently brought one of the weapons back to consciousness. Then, a…as I said, all of this happened."

"Who did all of this, who are you working for?" George's voice was getting louder, the heat of his words burning hotter. He told himself to calm down, but nothing was working to calm the anger growing inside. All of the people who died; all because of this, all because someone wanted to profit on the downfall of others. What gave them the right to endanger the lives of others for their personal gain? Is this what they wanted, a world where everyone had to live in fear, hoping and praying they'd survive the night?

"U…umbrella."

"The pharmaceutical company?" Alyssa asked from behind George. The man nodded, but before he could say anything else, his eyes became unfocused and his hands uncoiled from around his stomach. It was then that George noticed that the man had been holding his stomach closed, holding in his entrails. Steam rose up from the heat of the man's innards. With a moan of disgust, George looked away from the steaming pile of organic matter and stood up.

For a moment, it was silent. "Let's just find Kevin."

George turned and began to walk down the hall towards a large metal shutter. He felt Cindy's hand press against the small of his back; she rubbed up and down in a silent gesture of comfort. Her smile was like a small flame within a sea of darkness. It brought a small smile to his face.

The smile vanished when he saw that the only way to open the shutter was via a key pad on the wall next to the shutter. They had come all this way only to come to an impasse. George let out a sigh of frustration.

"I guess we should go back then, figure out the code for this key pad, and then come back. Maybe the others found something." George turned to leave. Cindy let go of George and walked up to the key pad.

"Wait, George." She was looking at the key pad. "It looks like he already entered the numbers. He must've gotten attacked after punching them in." Without waiting for him to answer, Cindy pressed the button to open the shutter. The shutter groaned and began to roll up into the ceiling.

The next section of the hallway was covered in a sticky whitish, webbing. Cocoons were stuck to the walls and floor sporadically, each pulsating with the act of metamorphosing the creature inside. George stepped gingerly around each cocoon, avoiding contact at all costs. He dared a glimpse back and saw the other two doing the same. By the time he reached the door on the other side, Cindy and Alyssa were half-way to the door. George turned and waited for the other two, watching them make their way around the cocoons. He tried the door near him, but found that it was locked. Instead of giving up right away, he decided to see if Cindy would notice something he didn't again.

Cindy strained to carefully step over a set of three cocoons positioned just close enough that she could step around them, but had to step over them. She looked up to check her distance from the door. Her heel brushed against the last cocoon. With a look of dread on her face, she froze, expecting something to burst forth and attack her. When nothing came, she gave a heavy sigh and continued on.

George heard it before he saw it. From above a sort of organic _pop_ erupted. Cindy was still hovering over the three cocoons when the larvae fell on her shoulder. Her eyes went wide but she dared not move, lest the other cocoons awaken as well. George immediately started the slow trek back to her, but he knew that he couldn't get to her in time.

Cindy probed her back with her fingers, trying to find where the larva was as it moved about. The little white bug inched its way down her back, leaving a green liquid behind wherever it went. Slowly, Cindy kept moving, hoping to move just fast enough to clear the other cocoons and rip the bug off her. Her heel clicked on the floor as she stepped past the last cocoon and brought her other leg over.

Softly, she let out an exasperated moan and shook, trying to get the bug off. In another time and place, George might have laughed at the spectacle, but right now, his fear for Cindy was threatening to choke him. Cindy kicked and shook with all of her might, trying to shake the creature off, but did little more than make it hold on stronger. She would need George's help.

In the time it took her to stop shaking, George closed the distance and spoke calming words, hoping to get her to stop panicking. Using his sleeve to protect his bare forearm, George smacked the creature. He did this a few more times, but couldn't knock it loose.

"Does it have its claws in you?" George asked, suddenly stricken with an idea.

She shook her head and stared down at the ground, trying to keep her nerves in check. "Good, then take your vest off."

Cindy shot George a confuse glare. "Excuse me?"

"Just take your vest off." George couldn't understand why it was such a big deal.

"This is a one piece shirt, the vest and shirt are one in the same." Cindy pointed to the vest and shirt to emphasize her point. George could feel his face heat and looked away so she couldn't tell. He went back to hitting the bug, but still nothing was working.

Once again, he had an idea. "Do you trust me?"

Cindy looked at George again; she didn't say anything but he could tell she wanted to know what he was going to do. Regardless of whatever concerns were flooding her thoughts, she gave him a cursory nod. That was all George needed to know, he took off his raincoat and balled it up. His hand went up under the back of her shirt, feeling for the tiny claws. When he found them, he slipped his raincoat under her shirt, creating a barrier between the flesh of her lower back and the claws. With the raincoat in place, George took her by the shoulders and pushed her back against the wall.

A sickening _pop_ and squish came from behind Cindy who looked to be ready to throw up. George could see that the organs and the rest of the bug's innards were running down her legs. George pulled Cindy away from the wall. Since the bug was now dead, and unable to hold on stronger each time George pulled, the claws came out of her shirt easily, and George used his sleeve to wipe Cindy clean of all insect entrails. She was still too disgusted to say her thanks, but George nodded anyway when she glanced his way.

Alyssa came behind them silently, looking at what happened to Cindy up close. She let out a small groan of empathy before pushing them to move. In a few minutes they were back at the door, George gave the other two space, hoping they could find something he couldn't.

"It's locked as far as I can tell." George said, folding his arms across his chest. Alyssa looked back at George as if he was stupid.

"Then, _why_ did we come all the way over here if the only other exit was locked?"

"I figured, since Cindy found a way through last time, I shouldn't just give up, and leave, maybe one of you two can find something I'm missing."

"That's a little farfetched don't you think?"

George sighed; he didn't want to have this argument right now. "Look, I just don't want to disregard anything until we –"

"It's not locked." Cindy said, cutting George off. She twisted the circular projection that George had tried earlier; it turned without any problems. The door retracted into the ceiling revealing a dark room. The entire room resembled the hallway, webbing covered the walls, and cocoons lined the floor in the corners of the room. Every wall was covered in nothing but webs, except one wall.

Kevin was stuck to the wall with the same webbing that covered the rest of the walls. His head was hung low, obviously unconscious, and not completely healthy. He stirred awake only when George checked to see if he was alive.

"G…George?"

"Yeah, Kevin it's me, we've come to get you out." George said as he looked to the webbing for any weak points. With his knife broken, George was going to have to rip Kevin free. He looked for any seams in the web or anything he could use as a starter for the tear. It took him the better part of ten minutes before he found what he was looking for, near the bottom of the web was a slight tear in the web. George stuck his hand in the tear and started to pull, causing a lightning bolt shaped rip in the web. In a matter of minutes, Kevin fell into George's arms.

"Cindy, he doesn't look good, he's really pale." George looked at Kevin. His profession suddenly took over; George was examining a patient, not a friend. His eyes meticulously inspected Kevin's body, looking for any signs of a cut or wound. With no blood anywhere, George couldn't understand what was happening to Kevin.

"George, I feel woozy, almost like I want to throw up."

George couldn't understand what was wrong with Kevin, he appeared to be fine, but something was definitely wrong. He hoped tremendously that the moth hadn't…laid its eggs in him.

Suddenly, George understood. He almost smacked his forehead for being so blind to the truth. With the back of his hand, George felt Kevin's forehead. It was burning hot, indicating a fever.

"Cindy, how many blue herbs do you have left?"

Cindy made a quick inventory of her bag. "Uh, one blue herb and two green herbs left."

"Alright, give me a green herb and take Kevin please?" George asked as he laid Kevin in her arms, taking the green herb as she did so. He reached into his messenger bag and took out the medicinal kit he had with him. Using the mortar and pestle, George ground the green herb up into a fine powder. He mixed the powder with a few chemicals in the kit and finally, poured the sticky powder into a capsule.

George lifted Kevin's head and tilted it back, opening his mouth as he tilted. With his index finger, George pushed the pill down into Kevin's mouth and asked him to swallow. Kevin only hesitated a second before dry swallowing the pill.

"He should be fine in a few minutes, but we have to get him to move. We can't stay here much longer." George started to stand up and was going to offer Kevin his hand, when he noticed a blue light, dancing in the far corner of the room. He helped Kevin up quickly before walking over.

A computer was still on, displaying a login screen for the facility. He looked down and saw a piece of paper lying next to the keyboard.

_Staff Memo_

_September 11th, 13: 30, # of guest: 4_

_Checking for other possible additional guest users..._

_Entry Name: "GUEST"_

_Password: None_

George put the note down and looked back at the computer. His level of curiosity got the better of him and he input **GUEST**. The screen flashed quickly, granting him access to the computer. A quick note telling him that he could register his fingerprint showed on the screen. George followed instructions and placed his thumb on the pad next to the computer. Lights blinked on and off as the pad scanned his thumbprint. Only a short while later, the computer flashed a new message telling him that he had access to a room on the third floor.

When George looked back, Cindy was balancing Kevin with one shoulder, and Alyssa had him by the other. Kevin looked to be getting some of his strength back, but it was going to take a little while longer before he was back to normal. Until then, they had to get back to the main shaft to meet up with the others.

"We'd better get back." George said, pointing back at the door they had come through. The two women didn't say a word, but turned to leave through the door with Kevin in tow.

When they got outside, something didn't feel right with George, something was wrong, but he didn't know what it was. They started to make their way back through the maze of cocoons, when Alyssa stopped. "Did you hear that?"

George listened, but couldn't hear what it was she was referring to. Just as he shook his head, George heard it; it was the same organic pop he heard earlier. Only this time, there were more, many more.

"We've got to move, now."


	29. Chapter 29

George took a quick survey of their predicament. At least forty of those larvae emerged from their cocoons and were squirming all over the floor and crawling along the walls. With Kevin in their arms, it was going to be difficult to get by without being bogged down by the stragglers that were able to latch onto their clothing -- especially Kevin's. A thought came to George, he had been able to squash the first bug, why not these? He took a precautionary step forward and stepped on one of the bugs. It exploded in a gorily extravagant puss filled geyser of blue and green goo. George's throat clamped closed, cutting off the flow of vomit that was pushing its way up his esophagus.

Quickly, he waved the others on, to copy what he had done. They started to make their way through the hallway, stepping on any bugs that got in their way. It was hard not to step on any of the bugs; the floor was literally crawling with the massive insects. The pitter-patter of tiny claws against metal filled George's mind as he stepped on the next bug in his way. Just like the others, goo shot out of any hole in the little exoskeleton.

He had another idea, these bugs couldn't be allowed to leave this hall; they couldn't be allowed to move freely around the lab. The shutter, they would have to use the shutter to seal them within the hall. George doubled back to where Alyssa stood under Kevin's arm.

"Alyssa, we have to trap these things in here, can you go on ahead and get ready to close the shutter when we get through with Kevin?" George was already taking Kevin's weight from her shoulders before she could answer. She let him without any protest, only too happy to be getting out of the hall that much sooner. Kevin's weight made moving a lot harder, George found himself pushing the larvae away instead of stepping on them. After a few larvae, he realized it was a bad idea. One of the larvae hooked a claw into his pant leg, gaining a firm grip. George shook his leg, but couldn't stop to shake hard enough to knock the larva loose. His sense of alarm shot up, he tried to keep his level of panic to a minimum but with the larva inching its way up his leg, he was having a difficult time.

Cringing as the larva slowly made its way up his leg, George could only shake when he took a step. He felt the tiny claws scraping against his calf, pinching him as it moved. The added weight didn't help him to step on the other larvae in the hall. Cindy let out a cry.

"George!" She screamed. He leaned over a little to see what was happening. Blood leaked down her leg as a larva dug its claws into the flesh of her bare leg. Cindy stopped suddenly; she shook her leg, hoping to get the larva off, to stop the pain.

"Cindy we have to keep moving, we can't stop." George tried to get her attention. "Look at me, look at me!"

His screaming fell on deaf ears as Cindy cried out and let go of Kevin to grab at the larva. The sudden added weight threatened to topple George over, but he moved his legs to gain a better position. With Kevin in his arms, George looked to where Alyssa was, she was urging him on, trying to get him to come out of the hall. They were only a few feet to the exit, but Cindy wouldn't move.

"Cindy, let's go! We can't stay here; we'll deal with it outside!" George pleaded with her. She wouldn't listen; she only dug at the larva clawing its way up her leg. When she tried to pull it out, it only held on stronger, if she kept it up, she would pull out the skin on her leg. George growled under his breath. "Cindy, I promise, I'll get you out of here and get that thing off your leg. We just have to get out of here first."

George looked around; the larvae were starting to coagulate into a large blob, each larvae climbing over and under each other in order to get closer to their food. They formed a mound in the middle of the hall, it moved slowly toward them, like a moving mountain.

"Y…you promise?" When Cindy spoke, George looked back. Her eyes were puffy and red, tears streamed down her face. George saw her soul in that moment, the scared trapped girl inside begging to be helped, praying that he could help her. George wanted nothing more than to hug her and comfort her that instant, but the nagging voice in the back of his mind hurried him.

"I'd never leave you." With that, he put his hand on the small of her back and pushed her forward, through the sea of larvae. She stepped with the greatest of reluctance, but eventually began to walk on her own. George threw Kevin's arms over each of his shoulders and pulled his forearms across his chest, propping him up on his buttocks. A cursory glance behind showed the mountain of larvae mere inches away. George's eyes went wide and his feet carried him as fast as he could go.

It was a precarious predicament; with each step, another larva was crushed. The juices that leaked out made the floor slick; George had to test each step so he wouldn't fall. With Kevin on his back, each step was a chore of its own, but taking into account the weight and added slipping hazard; George was near 

tears of his own, trying to force his legs to keep going. He blocked the burning pain the exertion was having on his legs from his mind; he tried to forget the larva on his own leg, crawling closer to his crotch. Since he was moving so slow, George felt another larva latch onto his other leg, wiggling up his pant leg. The crevices of the exoskeleton tickled his calf as the larva slinked farther up his leg.

George bit his bottom lip to prevent himself from letting out a cry. He focused all of his concentration on the opening in the hallway. It wasn't that far away, only a few feet away. He wanted to scream, he wanted to get rid of all these bugs.

Cindy let out a cry of relief when she got out of the hallway. George followed the trail of her blood up to where she was, the blood was mixing with the blue-green goo and was turning a murky brown. She was bending down and was once again trying to rip the larva off her leg, not thinking about the damage it might cause her. George had to stop her; he had to get to her in time.

"C…Cindy…no." His voice came out only a little louder than a hoarse groan. George pushed his foot through the larvae, pushing past. The thin veil of caution was stripped away; he needed to get to Cindy. All of his thoughts melted away, the awareness of his own discomfort was suddenly stripped away and was filled instead with a need to stop Cindy.

Distantly, he felt more of the larvae hook onto his pant legs, but it didn't matter to him anymore. Foot after foot, George moved faster and faster. With each step, he gathered more and more resolve. George grunted as he broke through the sea of larvae. The hallway was clear, he wasn't surrounded anymore. Exhausted, George dropped Kevin and staggered to Cindy. In one swift move, the pistol was free of his pants and trained on the bug on her leg. Without another thought, George squeezed the trigger.

Goo squirted onto the adjacent wall and the larva's body went slack. Cindy pried the little claws out of her leg, falling down on the ground when the bug was finally out.

George's relief soon faltered when the realization finally slammed into him like a brick wall. He felt the tiny claws climbing up his pants. Looking down, he saw that there were at least ten larvae crawling up his body. His instincts took over; as quick as possible, he was unfastening his belt buckle. He unzipped his pants and ripped them off as fast as possible. The pants fell to the floor like a heavy weight. George stumbled, trying to get the pants down off his shoes. The larvae were bunched in around the folds of his pants, making them bulge as if he were wearing a sack full of potatoes. Tearing his feet out of the pants, 

George sprung on the insects, stomping the rounded bulges in his pants. Shortly after, the pants were flattened and leaking from the gooey innards of the insects. George unfurled his pants and let the corpses of the flattened bugs roll out. He did his best to clean the pants of the goo, but it did relatively little. He would need to find another pair of pants…again.

Carefully, he slipped the pants back on, testing to see if they were going to last him until he found another pair. When he was satisfied that they would, George turned back to the others.

Both Cindy and Alyssa's faces were beet-red. They were still staring at him when he turned around. He suddenly felt foolish about what he had done. It was necessary, but that didn't change the fact of what he just did.

Thankfully, neither said a word as they stopped, trying to catch their breaths. Somewhere between the time, he shot the larva off Cindy and when he stomped on the larvae on him, Alyssa had closed the shutter, locking in any stragglers.

They needed to get back to the main shaft and pray the others were safe. The only problem was getting Kevin back; they would have to figure a way to get him through the ventilation shafts. He was in no condition to move himself, and there were hazards aplenty to worry about as well.

George decided that they should discuss the matter, but his voice was a minute in responding to his decision. "So…what are we going to do about Kevin?"

He knew they were all thinking the same thing because he didn't need to say anymore. Alyssa looked to Kevin and then back to George. "We're just going to have to carry him through."

"Yeah, but how?" Cindy chimed in.

"Maybe one of us can go through first and pull him, while the other two push." Alyssa seemed to have the best idea of them all, but it still would be hard enough to get him through and worry about whether or not a zombie was going to pop up and attack.

After a few minutes of thinking, George couldn't come up with anything better so he finally agreed to the notion. When Cindy agreed, they stood up and began to head out, back to the main shaft. With Kevin's arm over one of his shoulders, George walked towards the ventilation shaft with Alyssa's help. Cindy was the first through, crawling in backwards so she could help pull Kevin through. It was a daunting task; Cindy's grunts filled the shaft. She had had to stop every so often, when she thought she heard something in the shaft with them. Finding it was only her imagination, she would continue to pull Kevin's hand along with her as she inched her way through the shaft.

When they finally cleared the first shaft, Cindy was covered in a thin layer of glistening sweat. George and Alyssa carried Kevin to the next and final ventilation shaft, but instead of Cindy crawling in first, George volunteered. He bent down and crawled through backwards, just as Cindy had. He saw Kevin's arm in the opening of the shaft. With great effort, he hauled Kevin's upper body into the shaft and moved back to make room for the rest of him. It took them at least twenty minutes to get Kevin through the final shaft. When he was through, George plopped down in a corner and rested his head against the wall. The other two crawled through, just as tired as he was. They rested there for a few minutes before taking Kevin outside into the main shaft.

"Took you long enough, we've got something you need to see." David said as they brought Kevin out and laid him down next to the ladder. He gave Kevin a look before continuing. "We found a way down to the floor below the next. We haven't gone down yet, we wanted to wait for you, but now that you're here we can go down."

"Wait, we can't take Kevin, he's not well yet." George managed through ragged breaths.

"Well, we might need you; you're the only one that seems to have any knowledge of anything scientific here, so you definitely have to come." David spoke with a certain authority that made George wonder what he did before he became a plumber. George was disappointed, but didn't blame him for his observation of their situation. He'd really been hoping to get a few more minute's rest, but he knew that he wouldn't be allowed that small comfort. The least he could do was give Alyssa and Cindy that luxury.

"Alright, we'll leave him here with Cindy and Alyssa. They could use the break."

"So do you!" Cindy started to get up, but George put a hand on her shoulder. "If you over exert yourself, you'll pass out, or worse. If you're incapacitated, then what will we do? Don't you remember at the inn?"

"I won't soon forget that Cindy, but they could need me here and we can't exactly wait for me to recuperate. What if, the antidote I gave to Kevin isn't adequate to remedy his ailment? What if whatever could cure him is down there, he won't be able to take the extra time I waited to catch my breath." George frowned, he didn't want to chastise her, but he understood the necessity for him to go. Still, he couldn't help but smile inwardly at her concern for him. "So, I must go. Perhaps I'll have a chance to calm down in a little bit, but not before everyone is safe. Please, just watch over Kevin for me until I get back."

Cindy looked like she was about to say something, but decided against it and instead just nodded. She scooted over closer to Kevin, resigning herself to the task George had asked her to do. If it was the last thing she would do, she would take care of whatever George asked her to do. George smiled his thanks to her before he turned and followed David down the ladder.

The hall David led him into was completely different from the hall just a floor above them. It turned instantly, leading to another turn just a few feet away. Beyond that corner was what looked like a T-Intersection. David turned at the first turn they came to and followed the corridor to an automated doorway. George saw the other three in what looked like an overly advanced security room. Monitors lined the wall to his left, continuing in a semi-circle around the room. Below the monitors was a myriad of buttons and knobs that presumably controlled what the guard wanted to see on the monitors. Currently most were off, but a few displayed scenes of gore filled hallways, the undead roaming the desolate halls.

David moved past Mark and walked to a little opening across from the monitors. A valve handle was still stuck in a hexagonal hole that opened a moving slab of metal covering the entrance to the floor below. Inside the entrance was a simple ladder and nothing else. Since George was now present, David was the first to head down the ladder. Before George could follow, Mark stopped him.

"Did you find Kevin?" He sounded like he was pleading with him, as if begging George could bring Kevin back.

"Yes, he's upstairs with Cindy and Alyssa. I gave him an antidote for whatever poison the moth injected him with, but I can only hope it helps. I thought he'd be fine by now, I'm not sure if he'll make it, but we're doing all we can." This brought a sigh of relief from Mark, happy at least to have another member of their team back with them. It seemed like an age ago when Kevin almost shot Mark for being bit. George shot a glance at the bandaged wound on Mark's arm before turning and descending the ladder.

The pungent smell of death and ammonia assaulted George's senses as he climbed down. It hung in the air like a haunting figure following him as he left the little out-cove and into the room beyond. The room was built similarly to the security room above, except that it lacked the multitude of monitors on the walls. File cabinets lined the walls with a few desks that held papers, strewn out at odd angles. George walked around, taking quick looks at the papers and finding nothing useful. He was about to give up and move to the next room when the whole building began to shake. George quickly grabbed onto one of the filing cabinets for balance. He saw that David was doing the same thing.

Suddenly, the hole that they had climbed down through collapsed. Debris fell into the opening and sealed off the room beyond. Then, just as soon as it begun, the shaking stopped, they were safe…relatively.

Muffled voices permeated the debris; George could just barely make out Mark's voice screaming.

"George, David!" He paused, waiting for a reply.

"Mark!" George screamed at the debris.

"You're alive! Is David alright?"

George looked at David, who nodded and grunted that he was. "Yes, we're both okay. We just can't come back up the way we came down; we'll have to find another way!"

He heard Mark grumble on the other side. "Alright, be careful, don't go gettin' killed."

George stepped back from the pile of debris and looked around the room. Nothing else looked to be damaged, but he didn't know about the other rooms in the vicinity. Unknown dangers may lurk within those walls. George wasn't certain there was another way back up, but he had to believe there was. No one in their right mind would make a hidden path the only route to what looked like an important room.

"So, where do you suppose we should go?" George folded his arms and gave David a sidelong glance, hoping he had a better idea than he did.

"Well, your guess is as good as mine, but I say we don't split up, I'm not sure that'd be a good idea."

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Maybe we should just search this room first and move on."

David looked around and frowned. "I'm not sure that there's anything useful in this room, I say we just move on."

George scratched his head, he wasn't thinking straight, of course, there was nothing in this room, and they weren't looking for anything other than a way out. He nodded and pointed to a door at the far end of the room. "Why don't we just try there and work our way back."

Without bothering to answer, David started towards the door George pointed at, passing by a set of large glass tubes that spanned the entire distance of the floor to the ceiling. Those tubes could only house something the size of a large man. George suddenly shuddered, remembering what the dying researcher told him, these tubes must have housed those weapons they were creating.

The automated door rolled up, granting access to the hallway beyond. They were greeted by the sight of a rotting corpse, lying in a pool of the man's own blood. Stepping gingerly around the corpse, they continued and turned a nearby corner. Another corpse was only a few feet away, organic matter smeared the wall next to the corpse and a large hole in its chest showed the bloodied floor below. When they passed the corpse, another automated door rolled open. A fog rolled out from the next room as the door rolled open, metal boxes, built into the wall were the only things in this room. Another row of metal boxes was built between the wall and the door, providing added storage. One door along the wall was pushed out, blocking the path behind the partition of boxes in the middle of the room.

They quickly looked around the room, but since it had only one exit, they didn't stay long. George shrugged when David looked at him, how was he supposed to know it would be a dead-end?

Again, they moved past the bodies and walked back into the room with the file cabinets. With only one other door left, they didn't have to pause to decide where to go. Quickly, they crossed the room and went through the last door. Ahead, the corridor twisted and turned twice before opening up into two paths. One went to the left, the other, straight. George groaned, this facility was like a maze and George felt like the forlorn rat, searching for his piece of cheese. Silently, they decided to take the left path, going through the door at the end. The room was another dead-end, but they stayed for a few minutes to look at the peculiar room in the room. Inside a little glass chamber, a zombie stood, hunched over, bathed in a warm red light. The door to the left was shut, but the room looked like a chemical chamber of sorts, in fact, there were a few containers of an unknown chemical at the zombie's feet. George couldn't help but wonder what they did to their creatures that required so many different types of chemicals.

Faced once again with a dead-end, they turned back to follow the only other path left to them, their last hope for escape. In front of the door, George looked to David, he knew that if this was another dead-end, they would have to try to move the debris from the hole and that was a precarious choice at best. He turned the handle and opened the door. At first, he didn't notice it, but after a few moments, the stench of death was close by. In the closest corner to George, a researcher's body was slumped in death. George looked away and noticed something that brought a cry of excitement from his throat. The plant, the plant was in the room. They were in the shaft; they had a way back up!

George started to run to the ladder, but slowed to a halt, as he got closer. Vines stretched up the ladder, twisting and twining themselves up the rungs of the ladder. Even after all they've searched, this way was blocked, the way wasn't an option anymore, in order to get up the ladder; they'd have to kill the plant. Doing that seemed like such a daunting task, that it was near impossible.

"So…what now?" David asked, walking up beside George and staring at the ladder.

"We can try to dig out the debris…" George knew that wasn't an option either, if the debris was balanced so perfectly, then it was more likely to cause more damage if they tried to clear the way. The only option, really, was finding a way to kill the plant and climb up the ladder, but how they were to do 

such a thing was well beyond George's comprehension. Even if his mind wasn't cloudy with exhaustion, he wasn't so sure he'd be able to find a way to kill such a huge plant.

George walked to the corner opposite the dead researcher and plopped down, picking up a piece of gravel and tossing it at the plant, thought in silence. With everything down here at their disposal, there had to be a way to kill that plant…they merely had to find it.


	30. Chapter 30

"Damnit all to hell!" David cursed as he paced, his hand was plastered under his chin, stroking it as he thought. "There's got to be a way to kill this damned plant, we're so close!"

George continued to toss tiny pebbles against the bent metal grate at his feet. It looked like the events of the night were culminating together in one large entity that was attacking David's patience and possibly…his sanity. George hoped that wasn't the case, but for all the life within him, he could understand what David was going through. They all were going through it.

David reached into his pouch and took out his little gold embossed lighter. As he paced, he closed and shut the lighter's lid, flicking a flame on each time he did. He would stop at times and just stare at the plant, curse and continue pacing. It felt like hours before George had a thought.

George stood; he had to come up with an idea, even if it didn't work. He needed to give David some semblance of hope before he went insane. If David couldn't see that there was always a way, George would just have to make that way for him. "Look, maybe if we go back and look through some of those papers were can find out more about this thing."

David stopped pacing and looked at George, considering his proposal. "I guess that makes sense, it's not doing us any good just standing here. If we're going to die, then we'd at least better give this thing hell before we do." David pointed at the plant over his shoulder with his thumb.

"Alright, let's retrace our steps and see if we can find anything."

"Wait, what about that room with all the chemicals?"

George gave him a hint of a smile. "That's what I was thinking; maybe some of those chemicals are a sort of weed killer."

David gave him a chuckle. "It's going to have to be pretty heavy-duty for that to work."

George shook his head, glad that David was now showing some signs of life again. They left through the only door to the room and walked back through the hallway to the semi-circular room beyond.

"Alright, if there's anything useful it'll be here; just looking for anything related to plants or chemicals. There are so many down here we need to narrow down the search." George said as he shuffled through a handful of papers. Most were about handling specimens and different chemicals. George took note of the particularly dangerous ones and passed through others. It was a long and arduous search that took the better part of a half-an-hour.

Finally, David stopped for a moment and read through a paper. When he was finished, he turned to George. "Hey, hey, hey look at this!"

George took the paper from him and read it to himself.

_Laboratory Memo:_

_UMB No.20 - UMB No.3 + VP-017_

_Changes color to auburn when mixed._

_A very potent weed pesticide._

_Very effective against plants._

_Careful handling is required._

"'A very potent weed pesticide', right? That's what we're looking for." David poked the paper as he spoke.

"This very well may be what we're looking for. Good job David." George smiled; they finally had a way out. The only thing hindering their progress now was one thing; getting the right chemicals. He prayed they were properly labeled and easy to find. "I figure our best bet is to go back to the room with the hazard container built into it. That looked to have at least some chemicals in it."

George quickly crossed the room and went through the door that led to the hallway that exited out into the hazard room and the main shaft.

"Yeah, but what about that little problem?" David asked as they neared the door. George didn't answer right away, he'd been thinking about that and other things the entire time. The room was shut off for a reason and the flashing warning light wasn't helping for that matter. Inside, George walked up to the glass window and stared at the zombie, debating on what he should do next. Off to the right a little out of view, George saw something that caught his eye. He leaned over, trying to get a better view. A little red container that looked much like a gas canister had something on it that started with the letter 'U', but the rest of the word was obscured from view. Deep down, he wanted to forget he saw that, he didn't want to have to go in there and check the label, just to find it wasn't what they needed. However, he also knew that this was their only chance and right now their only lead.

"I need to get in there."

David spun around towards him. "Are you nuts? That thing will eat you in a second. That space is too tight to fight."

George sighed. "I know that, but what other choice do we have? I'll just have to tackle it to the ground and try to crush its skull or something." He paused, thinking. "I'm more worried about what else is in there."

"Else? What else could be in there?" David waved a hand at the window.

"Well, for starters, why is it sealed off?"

David put a hand on his hip. "Well, I figure whoever put that zombie in there, didn't want him to get out."

"Yeah, I figure that too, but that flashing red light worries me, if a carcinogen was in there, or some other fatal…thing leaked out in there, I'm not going to go in willy-nilly."

George looked around the room; he knew they had to have what he was looking for. Around the room, all of the walls were bare except for a few hazard suits that had large tears in them. They had to have 

something else, something more which would be for a back-up purpose. Something used only in emergencies.

George began to walk around the room, looking at the walls and looking behind the little out cove with the door to the hallway. He rested his hand on a stack of boxes piled in the corner and peered behind them.

"Aha!" George said as he flattened his back against the wall and shimmied his way further behind the boxes. He grabbed a hanger with a set of scrubs on it, hung at the waist. "I thought they would have these here."

"A set of scrubs? Why are they here?" David was genuinely confused.

"Well, if there's an accident in there, people can't always suit up in those bulky hazard suits, it's not always feasible. Usually, when handling anything that requires a sterile field or can be hazardous to one's health, researchers will have scrubs on hand with masks and such. Purely for convenience sake."

"Ah…okay." David turned back to the window and stroked his chin. George set about the task of donning his new pants. He unfastened his belt and let the tattered remains of his khakis fall to the floor. "Smilies?"

"Excuse me?" George looked up and noticed David looking at him.

"Smilies," David pointed down, George felt his face flush. "I took you more for a hearts man Doc, or maybe some needles."

"I…I really don't even know what to say to that." George wasn't sure what he should feel about David commenting on his choice of apparel. He pulled up the scrubs quickly and tied them off at the waist.

"What about the shirt?" David pointed back at the hanger with the shirt still puffed up by the metal frame.

"Well, my jacket still works fine, I only needed pants." George put the mask on and turned to head for the door. He stopped and turned around again. "To be honest, I hate these things. I really do, they're so…uncomfortable."

David shook his head as George approached the door. He took a few steps back, returning to the door. George steadied himself, he pushed the jovial mood from his mind and prepared him for what he was about to do. With a –click-, the lock on the door opened.

He took a deep breath, slid the door open, and walked inside. The zombie was still hunched over at the waist, staring at the floor. George readied himself, crouching down low to the ground, tucking his shoulder in and bending his knee, ready to spring into action. The zombie remained motionless, staring at the floor.

George shook his head and stood up, inching a little bit closer to the zombie. Before he could get back into position, the zombie lunged at him. George let out a frightened cry and ducked down, he pushed up as soon as the zombie was over top of him, hitting it square in the chest. It fell to the floor with a _thud_. George cursed loudly as he stepped over the zombie.

Quickly, he raised his foot and stomped on the zombie's head. He had to concentrate on keeping the contents of his stomach down when he felt the crunch of the cartilage underneath his shoe. Regaining his composure, George stomped again and again until the only thing that remained was a bloodied puddle of brain matter and blood.

Groaning at the sight, George turned away and walked straight for the red container. He picked it up and breathed a sigh of relief when he read what the label said: **UMB NO. 3**.

He quickly left the room and tore off the mask, handing the container to David as he did.

"So, this is what we need? Where's the other one?"

George looked back into the window. "I'll assume it's not here because I didn't see anything when I was in there that said VP…whatever the number was." George waved his hand as he spoke. The momentary elation of finding the first part of the chemical dissipated when he realized that since the other part wasn't there, they'd have to find that one too. The only other place he could think to look was the other room all the way at the opposite end of the basement. "Alright, looks like we have to go back to that other room with the built-in storage cabinets."

David grumbled and let the UMB No. 3 drop down to his waist and hang lazily from his arm. They retraced their steps back to the semi circular room once more and dropped off the UMB No. 3 before going through the other door. When they walked through, they were greeted by the two familiar dead bodies. Half in a jog, George jumped around the bodies and opened the door beyond the last body.

He walked around the set of cabinets in the middle of the room to the cabinet that was pushed open. George began his work immediately, searching for any of the beakers in the cabinet that matched the memo they had.

Finding none, he stood up and asked David for the paper. He read it over several times, looking around the room for something that might help. There were so many cabinets that any one of them could have the solution, but he couldn't get to any of them with the open on in the way.

A computer behind them blinked and caught George's attention. Of course, he couldn't close it manually, so it must be done remotely. George walked up to the computer and pulled the chair away. The screen was stopped at a text box, it was asking for a password.

Password.

He remembered reading something about this, something within the myriad of papers back in the semi-circular room. George growled, this was wearing his patience thin, here they were trying to survive, and David and he had to go and find a needle in a haystack.

As he was standing up from the computer to tell David about the next thing they had to find, something sounded from the hall beyond. Scraping, moaning, a banging on the door; the bodies had gotten up. David ran for the door and held it shut.

"What're we going to do!?" He screamed, straining against the zombies on the other side of the door.

"We've got to find the other chemical in here, if it's not here we're dead anyway!" George screamed. He thought back to all the papers he had read, trying to formulate the password in his mind. It was only four digits, but he couldn't recall any of them. He began to recite parts of them memos he remembered had to deal with the chemicals, the password wouldn't have stood out to him unless it had something to do with chemicals.

"Chemical…chemical…chemical…" George recited the words, hoping to spark his memory, but nothing was coming to him. He looked over and saw David looking back at him, his face turning a bright scarlet. "Chemical…cabinet!"

George remembered something. He tried to pull the rest of the memo from the recesses of his mind, trying to remember if there were any numbers in the document. Sentences began to come back to him, then whole paragraphs.

"Due to several misplaced material incidents. We have decided to introduce a new pass code system…" George whispered the sentences to the memo aloud, praying he wouldn't forget any of it. "At the same time, we are currently organizing the chemical cabinet… The pass code is…"

The numbers escaped his mind. He cursed, tying to remember. The first number came to him '0'. He typed it in the next number was either '6' or '3', he couldn't remember the order, but both of those numbers were part of the code. George typed as he tried to remember. He typed in what he thought the order was, inputting the last number he remembered.

"Hurry up Doc!" David mumbled to George's right. Flashing red text appeared on the screen telling him he had the wrong pass code. George typed it the other way, instead of red blue letters flashed and from behind the open cabinet slid shut and another opened farther down the wall. George jumped back from the computer and ran to the newly opened cabinet.

Inside was row upon row of the same container, **VP-017**. George wasted no time in grabbing the container and running back to David, holding up his prize. He attempted a grin, but it was cut short when the door moved open slightly.

"Great, now help me with the…door!" David managed. George slipped the glass container into the messenger bag and helped David push the door closed. "We can't keep this up; they're not going to get tired of this. What're we going to do?"

It certainly did look troublesome, they were trapped in a small room with only one exit and at least two zombies on the outside. In such a tight space, fighting was going to be hard to say the least. If only they had something that could just hit them all in one fell swoop. George suddenly wished David still had that shotgun from the inn. He thought about what he could do, maybe he could use David's help and push them both back, but that would risk getting bit, too dangerous. They needed something that could put distance between them and hit them both easily. Wishing wasn't helping anything. George fought past the rising wave of panic coursing through his veins. Then it hit him.

"Wait, can you hold this door for another minute or two?"

"W…what are you going to do?" David sounded suspicious, watching as George walked away from the door and went behind him to the other side of the row of cabinets in the middle of the room. He had to turn his head the other way to follow him as he walked into a little out cove opposite the computer. George came back into view almost instantly, looking back and forth between the two areas. When he was satisfied about something, he took a bottle from the top of the cabinets and walked back around.

"These are hazardous right? Well, if they're hazardous to us, then maybe they'll be fatal for them too."

David frowned. "Yeah, but they're deadly to us too, remember? Why would that work against them?"

George shrugged. "I don't know, I'm winging it here." George looked at the bottle. "Now this trisca…trisca…something might kill them. Do you have any better ideas?"

"Well, what about us? We _know_ that's bad for us. Where do we figure into this little plan of your's?"

George pointed back to the cubbyhole he walked behind first. "We'll stand there, you just let go and run back here and I'll toss this bottle at them. Hopefully it will work."

David's eyes drew down into a scowl. "Yeah, and if it doesn't?"

"Well, then we're dead." When David gave George a face, he continued. "We're dead here anyway if we don't do anything."

"Why don't we just shoot them?"

"Look at how they'd come in, we'd get bit by one before we can kill the other and if we wait for both of them, that is if there is only two, to come in then we risk hitting some chemicals. This way, we limit the amount of chemical leakage and possibly get out of here unbitten. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not be bitten!"

George's voice was getting louder with each word he spoke. His mind was made up, this was the only chance they had to get out of here, and David had to see that. David grumbled and nodded his consent. George grinned and moved into position behind the wall, leaning out. "Alright, on the count of three, let go of the door and run like hell back here."

"Alright, but don't you dare throw that thing until I'm well behind there." David's face was serious, but the fear was etched in lines all over his face. George nodded and began the count.

"One…two…three!" When George finished, David let go of the door like it was a hot coal and sprinted behind the wall. The door burst open, four zombies spilled out. George waited until David ran past and lobbed the bottle. George held his breath, hoping that it was something extremely dangerous to the zombies, praying that it would work; this was their only chance, their only way out.

The bottle seemed to hover in mid air, taking way too long. As if unfazed by the flying bottle heading straight for them, the zombies looked at George, the hunger burning in their insipid eyes. One moaned and hissed when it saw George. George swallowed the lump growing in his throat and watched as the bottle hit the apex of its arc and started the descent towards the floor.

In one blinding moment, the bottle hit the floor. With a roar, flames shot out of the broken bottle and covered the zombies. A brilliant white light burned George's eyes; the deafening roar hurt his ears. He could feel the heat of the combustion from where he was crouched behind the wall. Air whirled past him as the flames demanded to be fed. The stench of burning bodies filled his lungs, the rot gagging him until he couldn't stand it any longer. Zombies fell to the floor, being swallowed in a river of fire. Bottles shattered somewhere in the room from the concussion of the explosion. Liquid spilled all over the floor, dripping from shards of broken glass.

After those few seconds, which felt like hours, the explosion stopped, the roar died down but the fire still burned brightly. George stood up and walked out from behind the wall.

"Oh shit! What the hell was that!?" David screamed as he stood up and walked out as well.

"I don't know, but…maybe we should take more…" George was still stunned from what had happened. He couldn't take his eyes off the four burning corpses. What he had hoped would dispatch of the threats on the other side of the door turned out to work well, a little too well.

"Are you nuts? We can't use something like that it's way too dangerous." David was scolding George, but George only absently heard him. Maybe this one was too powerful, but there might be others in this lab that could be more useful. He wanted to know if there was anything truly effective against them, maybe something that could be used to combat the disease. Maybe there was…a cure.

David pushed past George to the door, they now had an exit, but the bodies were still burning. "We can't stay here, other chemicals broke open, we could breathe in something, and I don't want that."

David pushed open the door from afar, leaning over the burning bodies. With a small leap, he jumped over the body blocking his path. George followed, turning back to look at the damage he had caused. Maybe…

David was moving faster than George could keep up with, he had to jog just to match David's pace. He shoved the door open to the semi-circular room and walked through, grabbing the UMB NO. 3 as he went. With great force, he shoved the container into George's hands. "Just mix this please."

David plopped down on a chair nearby and put his head in his hands. "George, we can't keep doing this. Ever since the bar we've almost died at every turn I can think of, why are we always doing this?"

"It's because we're the ones who can. Everyone is playing their part, I'm sure Kevin would be down here with us if he didn't get poisoned. We have to stay strong." George twisted the caps off the two containers and followed the memo's instructions on mixing the chemicals as he spoke. "There are people up there who need us; they need us to be strong so they can be strong. Just if you can't make it, then the others may not be able to go on."

David rested his face in his hands for a moment before speaking. "I've had enough of people relying on me, relying on me never got anyone anywhere…ever."

George could tell there was more that David wasn't saying, but he decided not to press, if David wanted to tell him, he would at one point. He turned back to his work and poured the UMB No. 3 into the bottle with the VP-017 until it turned the auburn color. He screwed the cap back on the bottle and pushed the rest of the UMB No. 3 to the side. With the aid of a desk, he stood up and put the chemical on the table.

"Here's your plant killer, let's just go kill that plant and get back to everyone else, okay?" George waited until David picked up the bottle, he knew that David was having a tough time with the whole ordeal, but if he couldn't get past this, then George may not be able to help him when he needed it the most.

"What if it doesn't work?"

George folded his arms. "It will."

"But if it-"

"It will, just get up and go."

David stared at him for a while before standing and walking through the door to the hallway beyond. They walked without talking, the hallway stretched on, turning, and continuing again until they reached the door to the main shaft. George opened the door and walked through, making room for David with the chemical.

"So…how do we use it?"

"I'd assume just pour it on the roots, which are actually right…there." George pointed to the metal grate that was folded up. David crossed the room without another word and used the chemical as George directed. The auburn liquid cascaded down the stem of the plant and turned purple when it hit the roots. Instantly, the root curled up, turning a brown hue as they did. The color of the plant changed as it went up, the bright green darkened, the plant withered and dried up. The clear liquid spurted out of holes in the plant as the chemical made its way up the roots and into the body of the plant.

On the ladder, the stems withered just as the body of the plant did and recoiled back into the main part of the plant, clearing the ladder. George could hear Cindy above gasping and saying something that he couldn't understand. The sound of her voice made his heart skip a beat, he'd almost forgot all about her down here. He pictured her face when he got back up there, pictured the fall of her blond ponytail against her shoulder blades. Before he knew it, he was smiling.

They were free, they could get back to the others, and it felt like a burden was lifted from his shoulders. David looked at him, visibly relieved too; it looked like all the demons from his past withered away with the plant. He was refreshed, a new man going back up with the others.

"George, I'd really appreciate if we don't talk about what happened down here."

George put his hand on David's shoulder. "Of course my friend, of course."

With that, they began their ascent.


	31. Chapter 31

"Thank God!" Cindy managed to hold herself off enough to say those words before wrapping her arms around George's shoulders. He gave her back a warm affectionate rub and then gently pushed her off by the waist. Her eyes darted away as soon as she realized what she had done; she backed away a few steps. George smiled at her, trying to reassure her that he didn't mind, because he really didn't. Cindy cleared her throat and moved backwards. Kevin came up from behind Alyssa and held out his hand.

"Listen, Cindy and Alyssa told me what you did. Thanks." Kevin looked at George and then at his hand. George took the gesture at face value and shook his hand. The greeting was short-lived when Mark and the others piled out from the floor below, being led by David who looked just as glad to see them as they were him.

"I filled them in on our situation already." David said as he stepped off the ladder. They decided that they needed to put all their efforts towards finding an escape route; since the last one failed; they were going to find a more stable route. George scratched the back of his head, now where to look was the only trouble set before them.

"Okay, so what now?" Mark asked, leaning a hand on the wall. Kevin folded his arms before he began to talk.

"Well, since the last route didn't work, we'll just have to find another one. Maybe one that's a little more accessible." He thought for a moment. "Wait…what about that elevator? The one in the tram car room."

George thought back to the room with the tramcar and did remember seeing an elevator somewhere in the room. "Wait didn't that not work last time you tried though?"

"Eh," Kevin unfurled his arms and waved one in the air as if to banish the thought from George's mind. "I think it just needed the power to be turned on or something."

"Yeah, but the power's on." George pointed to the lights that were flickering in the shaft.

"Well, do you have a better idea?" Kevin's sarcastic tone didn't sit well with George, but he was right, George didn't have any other ideas. Instead of answering, George cocked it head to the side and shrugged his shoulders slightly. When no one else said anything, they began their trek back to the tramcar room.

Climbing up to the next level, they soon found themselves back into the large room with the circular platform in suspended over a gargantuan drop. Kevin slowly crept in, watching the air above him he turned quickly, warily. Everyone mimicked him, watching and listening for any sound from the moth creature. As they reached the circular platform, they still had no sign of the moth.

With a sigh of relief, Kevin walked under the protection of the overhang above the platform. All as one, they quickly walked across the next walkway and into the tramcar room. Inside, the walls had begun to freeze over; a milky white coat covered the walls near the door. George remembered how cold he was when he saw the aftereffects of the below freezing point temperatures. He crossed his arms and rubbed them up and down, letting out a noise from the back of his throat as he did.

Cindy was rubbing her arms as well; her short sleeve shirt couldn't have been providing her very much protection from the cold. George slipped his coat off and draped it over her shoulders. She looked up and smiled her special smile at him.

Ignoring everything else, Kevin crossed the room and walked up to the elevator. He pressed the button, but it remained motionless like last time. Kevin croaked and started to walk around, looking on the floor for something that might help him accomplish whatever it was he set his mind to. After a few moments, he disappeared behind a nearby wall and said something to himself that George couldn't hear. He returned just as quickly as he disappeared with a pipe.

"Mark, can you give me a hand with this?" Kevin asked and handed him the pipe. Mark raised an eyebrow, but nodded and followed Kevin. Kevin began to give him some instruction by the elevator, directing what he wanted him to do. Mark nodded a few times and started at his task. A metallic pop rang out in the quiet room as Mark shoved the pipe in between the two elevator doors. He growled while pulling, trying to pry the doors open for Kevin. With a great effort, the doors cracked open, ice fell from between the doors and shattered on the cold floor.

When the initial crack was finished, the doors slid open easily. Kevin poked his head out into the elevator shaft and let out a low whistle. He pointed down the shaft and waited until the others gathered around to talk.

"There's the problem. See the ice build-up in there?" Kevin waited and when a few of them nodded that they did he continued. "We need to find a way to melt the ice and then we can use this elevator. It's got to go somewhere important, maybe to something that can get us out of here."

George considered it for a minute, but found nothing wrong with his evaluation. It was a valid assumption and may in fact lead to a way out; besides, they didn't have anything more to lose.

"Alright, but how do we melt the ice?" Alyssa asked when she stepped back away from the open shaft.

"That may not be such a problem." George said. "Remember, there was a man in one of the rooms that was frozen with his hand on a temperature regulator? I'm sure if we could change the temperature we could melt the ice."

"You're right, I do remember something about that now, but we'd need a way to get him off." Alyssa looked around the room as if she was hoping to find the solution to her problem in the room. "It's not like we can just pry him off, the instruments are too sensitive for that."

"She's right, we'll have to find a way to melt him, and then melt the whole place." Yoko was more thinking aloud than talking to anyone in particular.

"So, what we need like an industrial strength…hairdryer?" Jim's voice came from the corner of the room; he had his leg bent at the knee, foot resting against the wall.

"Eh, more like a flamethrower." David corrected.

"…And we're going to find that here, how?" Cindy looked at both of them, posing the question to anyone with an answer.

"Well, did any of you see anything downstairs when you were looking around?" George asked David and those who went with him. Everyone shook their heads.

"There was a break room where we thawed a wrench, but other than that no. Although, we did put in some codes into the computer, two rooms were unlocked." Mark scratched the back of his neck as he spoke.

"Which two rooms?" Alyssa asked, sounding much like a reporter once again.

"I'm not really sure, anyone remember?"

Jim pushed off the wall. "It just gave floor numbers and room names. Uh..." Jim took the paper out of his pocket and began to read out loud. "'B5F Computer room and B4F East Area Passage.'"

"Wait, computer room?" George thought back to earlier in the larvae hallway. The room was locked, and then it opened. Therefore, that must've been the computer room. If that was the fifth floor basement, then this must be the fourth. "What was the B4F room?"

"'East Area Passage.'" Jim read again.

"Then there's another door opened on this floor!" George was already running to the door again, if there was another door open, then they had one more chance to find something to help out with thawing the man.

When he opened the door, the sound of beating wings filled his head; the moth curled its wings together into a dive. Sprinkles of poisonous dust floated behind like a magical trail. The fur waved as the air rushed past at a dizzying speed. As it came close, George's instincts took over. His knees collapsed 

from underneath him and his hands covered his head. Lying prone on the ground, George missed the razor sharp talons of the moth by centimeters.

Almost instantly, George began to scramble for the safety of the circular platform. He crawled wit every ounce of energy he had, panting to a halt when he crossed over the threshold. Flipping onto his back, George rested a hand on his stomach and watched the others. He felt embarrassed about forgetting about the moth, and he felt angry with himself that he was almost caught like Kevin.

The moth flapped around for a few more seconds before landing on the wall opposite the door they were coming through.

George sat up on his knees and urged the others to cross the bridge. Carefully, each made their way across. A few times, they had to stop while the moth flapped its wings against the wall. Once they were all on the other side, they lined up at the next bridge. With the moth on the wall between the two doors, it was going to be a dangerous crossing.

With everyone stacked together, waiting for one to gain the courage to be the first across, no one was moving. George gave an instant's thought to shooting the moth, but decided something that big wouldn't go down easily. They would have to sneak past it, hoping and praying it wouldn't suddenly attack.

When no one moved, Alyssa pushed to the front of the pack. "Make sure it doesn't get me."

George and Kevin both nodded and took out their weapons. She ducked down low and began to move silently down the walkway. Suddenly, the moth's wings flapped and it lifted off the wall. Alyssa stopped, dead in her tracks. The moth pushed away from the wall and came back down in nearly the same spot. Alyssa breathed a sigh of relief and started moving again. She reached the door and opened it, letting the door slide up into the wall above. When she was through, she motioned for the others to come over as well.

They continued passing people over the cross walk, with George and Kevin watching the moth with their fingers in the triggers of their guns. Finally, with only George and Kevin left, Kevin started to go, leaving George alone on the other side. Kevin made it across quickly, almost running across.

George felt suddenly alone, not knowing if he should go across or not. He knew it was foolishness not to go; he had to if he ever wanted to get out of this hellhole. This was but one more step among many that he would have to take to ensure his survival. Still, he didn't feel good about it at all; no one was there to watch his back.

Slowly, he ducked down into a crouch, moving his feet just as slow. He had to concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other just to stay calm. He thought about his breathing, concentrated on that too; anything to keep himself from running, to keep himself from panicking. George moved with an efficiency he didn't know he had. Steadily, he made his way across, counting the feet until he was through that last threshold to safety. He started to match the rhythm of his beating heart with each half step he took. Every other beat he would put his foot down, another step closer to the door.

In the matter of a few minutes, the distance was closed. What seemed like an eternity was no more than a few fleeting moments in his life. He sighed, loosened his grip on his pistol, and put it back in his waistband. Time was of the essence now; George stood up and walked down the hallway to the T-intersection. Just as he thought, the metal shutter was rolled up and revealed the other part of the hall that continued beyond.

As he reached the intersection, he couldn't hold back a gasp. George fell backwards and crawled until he hit a wall. Standing before him was what looked to be the largest beast he'd ever seen. Green scales covered its massive, muscular body. Each finger was lined with a razor sharp claw, its mouth full of row upon row of teeth, built to tear the flesh of its prey. The slits of its eyes were somewhat milky in color, but George soon realized that the entire body had a milky hue. A sheen of ice covered the entirety of the beast. It was frozen solid.

Mark, curious at what George jumped at, walked over to the opening and grabbed his pistol, aiming it at the beast. When he realized it wasn't moving, he put his pistol away.

"What the hell is this thing?" He gave George a hand up.

"I'm not sure, but I'm glad that it's frozen."

"Wait, so when we thaw this place…won't those things come back to life?" Cindy asked.

"Well, they _shouldn't_." George replied. "You see when anything living gets frozen like that, the thawing process isn't fast enough to thaw the individual cells and so when the cells thaw, the outer layer of the cellular membrane thaws first and bursts, so the creature will actually die. The thing is that these creatures so far haven't adhered to the normal theories and laws of physics or of biology for that matter."

He smiled, satisfied in his knowledge until he noticed their vapid stares. "What?"

"So that's a 'no' then, okay let's goes." Kevin said, patting George on the shoulders and walking into the opening. Everyone followed, but they had to stop at the end. "Door's locked, we need to find a way to unlock it now…"

Kevin sighed, he slammed his hand against the locked door, began to turn around and walk away. George looked at the door and noticed something next to it.

"Wait, hold on Kevin."

What George!? We came here for nothing, we need to find something else and it's going to lead to us needing to find something us to find in order to get the second thing unlocked to find the first thing we needed to unlock this door! This whole place is batshit crazy!"

George folded his arms until Kevin was done his tirade. When Kevin calmed down enough, George started.

"I can unlock it." Without saying anything else, George put his hand down on the outline of a hand on the screen. A light flashed and moved across his hand two times before the screen flashed green and the sound of the door unlocking echoed in the hall. Kevin's face turned red, but he didn't say anything. George didn't want to damage Kevin's pride anymore so he turned and walked through the now opened door.

Inside, the room looked like a mini laboratory within the laboratory. Broken glass pods were lined up next to each other in the far corner of the room, following the wall all the way around to the area next to the door. George stepped on broken glass as he moved out of the way for the others. As he moved around, he was able to see more of the small laboratory. Two desks sat opposite each other, both had massive amounts of paper piled on them.

On a workbench next to one of the tables, George saw something that made him smile. Resting on its side was a pump action shotgun. He picked it up and handed it to David. David pumped the shotgun and checked how many shells were left. Next to where the shotgun was lying, was a full box of ammunition. David took the pistol from his bag of supplies and handed it to Cindy.

"Hey man, why don't I get a gun?" Jim whined.

"Frankly, I don't trust you with a gun, take a pipe or something." David's voice was like gravel compared to Jim's. Jim tsked and walked around the corner. George flipped through some of the papers, trying to get an idea of what they were working on in here. As much as he understood what it was, he was reading; most of it was gibberish to him. He gathered the gist of what he was reading; it was more or less exactly, what the dying researcher had told him. They were working on genetically enhancing certain species with some sort of virus. George threw the papers back down when the ghost of his anger started to well up in him again.

"H…hey guys, I think I found what we're looking for." Jim's voice came from around the corner.

George peeked around the corner to what Jim was pointing at; in the hands of a dead man was a small blowtorch. The end of the tube where the flame would jet out was still a metallic sliver, meaning it hadn't been used yet. This very well could be the thing that got them out of there.

"Well, pick it up then." Kevin said, pointing at the blowtorch.

"Naw man, what if that thing is a zombie?" Jim retorted.

"It's frozen solid, it can't even move." Alyssa added.

"I dunno man…" Jim looked at the corpse and then back at the rest of them. "Why don't you do it?"

"You found it, you do it. Besides haven't we taken enough risks for you?" Kevin folded his arms; obviously, his pride was getting the better of him. George sighed and was about to get the blowtorch when Cindy quickly closed the distance and picked up the torch. She had to use her leg to help pry the torch from the dead man's grip. When she stood up, she pushed the torch into Kevin's chest, annoyed that he would rather boost his pride than get the task done.

With their bounty now in tow, they left the room and continued straight past the turn to the room with the temperature control panel. The door popped open, letting a hazy fog roll out when the door opened. If it was possible, the room seemed to freeze over more since their last foray. Still frozen to the panel, the man was slumped over in a chair, holding the lever they needed to pull. Kevin walked up to him and clicked the sparker for the blowtorch. After a few clicks, a dazzling blue-white flame shot out of the nozzle of the blowtorch. Kevin began to pass the flame over the lever and man's hand.

The smell of burning flesh permeated the room, to George's dismay, it reminded him of a kitchen, and that reminded him that he hadn't eaten in a while. He reprimanded himself for thinking of food at a time like this, how could he find the smell of a man's hand cooking appetizing?

It only took a few minutes, but the lever started to move and soon after that, the man's body fell to the floor and the lever slid down into position. Immediately, fans over head turned on and the foggy mist was drawn out of the room. Everything started to get warmer.

"Well, that was lucky. I half expected it not to work." Alyssa's skepticism wasn't limited to herself; George had been hoping it would work too. George grunted and stretched his aching joints of the chill from the temperature. The sudden change from cold to hot was making his body go crazy.

"We'd better get back to that elevator." He said, turning and heading for the door.

"Wait, maybe we shouldn't rush off anymore. Even if we think everything is okay, something will pop up, let's just take things slow, and get out of here in one piece?" Mark stepped in front of George's path, blocking his way to the door. "I mean, you said those things shouldn't be able to come back to life, but we don't know-"

As if on cue, a loud screech emanated from the other side of the door. George's eyes went wide, it's physically impossible; no living cellular structure should be able to survive being frozen like that. The entire cellular membrane should have been destroyed.

David shot George a glare, but said nothing. He merely pumped the shotgun and walked forward to the door, Kevin closely following. When they reached the door, Kevin had his hand on the handle and David tucked the butt of the shotgun into his shoulder and held the barrel up high. Kevin mouthed numbers, counting down until he opened the door.

When he reached one, Kevin flung the door open, and David moved out, Kevin twirling around the open door after him with his forty-five held up in both hands. Both men inched their ways down the corridor, watching for the giant green monstrosity.

They peered around the slight bend in the wall, looking through the opening where the metal shutter was rolled down, it was empty. Slowly, David slid his feet in a rhythmic patter, one in front of the other. He neared the corner, but stopped before turning. Ever so slowly, he moved closer, trying to see farther around the corner. He could see more of the white walls; the card reader began to grow smaller in his peripheral vision.

A flash of green and white sprung out at him, screeching filled the halls. Subconsciously, David squeezed the trigger; the shotgun rang out, but didn't hit the intended target. The green creature's claws sent sparks out as they ripped the metal walls open, creating gigantic fissures that revealed the room beyond. David was sprawled out on his back and Kevin was dragging him away with his free hand, while the other shot his handgun at the creature. Blood spurted out of the holes caused by the bullets, but the creature seemed not to notice. Its claws clicked on the ground as it ran at the two men, slow at first but steadily getting faster.

Saliva dripped from its teeth, the ravenous monster screamed its hunger once more before raising its claws, ready to skewer its next meal. Kevin took aim and shot once more, hitting the creature in the eye. A howl of pain escaped the creature's expectant mouth; it recoiled and clawed at the bleeding wound in its eye. Kevin took the momentary respite to drag David to his feet.

Before David was even standing, the creature was back again. It came at them with a renewed anger; it wasn't just looking for food anymore. The prey had bitten back and so the predator was going to play with its food. With three quick steps, the creature was only about a foot away from the kneeling David. Silently, the creature pointed, as if to pick the target, calling out David, choosing his death. It pulled back its hand, collecting all of the energy into one precision attack. With blinding speed it released the energy, there was no dodging the attack, everything was final. David was going to die, it wasn't a killing; it was an execution. There was no hope.

George wanted to look away, he wanted not to see his friend die, he wanted with everything he had not to watch David die. Try as he might, he couldn't look away. Cindy buried her head in his shoulder, looking away.

He felt the concussion in his chest more than he heard it. Something went wrong; the creature was writhing on its back, screeching in pain. Blood covered the floor underneath its dying body, but its claw was left untouched. David stood and walked over it.

"Not today, I won't die today." David took aim and shot the creature in the head, spraying more of its blood on the already dirtied floor. With the back of his hand, he wiped some blood off his face and looked back at the others. "Well, let's go."


	32. Chapter 32

The dull sounds of their footsteps echoed in the hallway as they ran through the doorway and into the room with the circular platform. Throwing caution to the side, David tore through the door first, blasting the moth off the wall. It was momentarily stunned, giving them the time they needed to cross the platform. David waited on the other side for everyone to catch up, pumping one more shell into the moth for good measure. They were panting from the sprint, hands on knees gasping for air.

George could feel his sides tightening up again; he placed a hand over the hurt and tried to rub it away. He looked up and saw David watching the moth, waiting for it to get anywhere near them, hoping it would get close enough that he could shoot it again. The moth, however, had learned its lesson and was keeping a good distance from the central platform. It flapped around for a few minutes until it found a good spot on the far side of the room. David followed it around the room with the shotgun cradled in his arms.

"Okay, let's move we can't stay here, we'll worry about resting when we're in the elevator." Kevin said from behind, he looked like he wasn't even winded from running. George wanted to protest, but his reason won over and instead only gave a curt nod. David waited as the others crossed the platform.

Before they were able to get halfway across the platform the third door in the room opened. David screamed for them to move. He let off another shot before screaming it again. A high-pitched screech filled George's ears, metal being torn apart sounded back towards David. David walked backwards, trying to keep the green beasts at a safe distance. They didn't look to be in a hurry; as if they knew, they were chasing them into a room with only one exit.

Kevin was the first through the door and was already running to the elevator. He slammed the button down and turned back to the others. David was just coming through the door; he shot once more, hitting one of the monsters in the chest, sending it flying over the railing. He backed into the room and pumped the shotgun.

"I only have one shot left; I'm going to need cover while I reload!" He screamed as the door rolled down in front of him. Kevin answered his call and brought out his forty-five. George walked past Kevin, heading for the elevator. Hoping it would be coming soon, George leaned over through the opened doors and looked down into the shaft. The ice was still melting from the wires that held the elevator in a state of expectant suspension.

It had to hurry, it had to go faster, they wouldn't be able to last much longer. George turned from the elevator to see that the beasts had made it into the room and were unleashing hell upon everything. Despite David killing at least one of them three more had come. The beasts had a lethal efficiency about them, with a few long steps they closed the distance between David and the door. David instinctually let off his final shot.

"Damnit I'm out!" David instantly reached his hand into his side pouch and started slamming the shells into the gun. Kevin took aim at the closest one and let off a shot. The bullet passed through the center of its head like a hot knife through butter. Blood shot out the back of the gaping hole as the creature jerked back suddenly and crumpled on the ground.

With a collective cry of hunger, still more came. They poured through the door in relatively steady intervals, replacing each one that died. David pushed the last shell into the shotgun and pumped the handle. Kevin finished off the last of his clip and ejected the empty magazine. He'd only been able to collect one other clip for his forty-five, so he loaded the last clip in and cocked the gun.

George took one last look at the elevator before pulling out the pistol and running in to help David and Kevin. Mark, Cindy, and Alyssa came with him, each holding out their pistols. Shots rang out in the small room, beasts flew this way and that, bobbing and weaving in and out of the survivor's aim. David pumped his shotgun and shot another beast that jumped at him, it flew back in mid air as if it hit a wall. It writhed on the ground, blood gushing out of multiple tiny holes in its body.

Everything seemed to be going by too fast. George aimed at one of the beasts only to have to aim at another as they moved by at a blinding speed. His pistol moved around as he switched targets, never sure which one to aim at. As he'd find one standing still, it would suddenly move as if cognizant to where George was looking. He felt overwhelmed and helpless.

Alyssa jumped back a step, narrowly dodging a swing from one of the beast's mighty claws. She took aim and returned fire, hitting it in the stomach. A small hole formed where the bullet passed through the creature's body, blood oozing out. Alyssa pulled the trigger a few more times, making a grouping of holes near each other, the blood turned from a small trickle to a steady stream. With its blood, leaking at a fast pace, the beast's movements slowed and soon stopped as it crashed to the ground.

One of the monsters pointed at Cindy the way it pointed at David, she froze, the fear gripping her to the floor. In one swift move, the beast's claw flew through the air, its course set straight for her heart. Cindy's knees buckled from underneath her, her hands wrapped around over her head. The claw drove through the air above her. Immediately, she pushed the barrel of the pistol into the creature's chest and pulled the trigger. One shot after the other pierced through the creature's tough outer layer, Cindy's pistol soon clicked empty as the creature collapsed to the ground. They were thinning out the herd of beasts, but George didn't know if they could last through the rest of the beasts.

George ducked down under the swipe of a beast and hit it hard in the chest with his shoulder. It stumbled back a few steps. Quickly it regained its composure and started to attack. Before George could pull up his pistol, the creature was on the ground squirming in its blood. David nodded, his shotgun still trained on the downed enemy. He wheeled around and shot at another one that was coming dangerously close to him.

This went on for another few minutes until they heard a whirling sound from inside the elevator shaft. The ice holding the elevator in place had melted, allowing the elevator to rise to their floor. Lady luck was smiling on them today.

George shot one of the creatures that was diving for Cindy and took her by the hand. He pulled her into the corner with Jim, Mark, and Yoko, asking her to stay with them. She was about to protest, but he was already gone, running back into the fray to help the others.

When George had regrouped with David and the others, they had killed off most of the creatures, leaving only four left.

"I don't have much left in the way of ammo." David said after taking a quick inventory of his shells.

"Me neither, I only have a few more shots left." Kevin pushed the clip back into his forty-five and cocked the gun. This was looking bad, George had nearly a full clip left, but that would only take out one, maybe two of those things. They started to slowly retreat back to the elevator, hoping to gain some distance from the creatures. All at once, the creatures started to follow, backing them all into a corner near the elevator.

Both sides were playing into the other's plan. Which one would gain the advantage was yet unknown. As they passed the opening to the hallway that led to the elevator, the hunters started their attack. With a loud collective scream, the creatures sprang into action. They ran at break-neck speeds, holding their claws out to the side to prevent anyone from ferreting their way past.

David brought up the shotgun, waiting until they were grouped enough together before he shot. Mere feet away, they suddenly stopped and turned towards the door that led to the main shaft. It rolled open and something came out that George couldn't see. The creatures backed away from the survivors and evaluated the new thing that came through the door.

George could hear footsteps coming from beyond the wall. It sounded human, like boots clicking on the cement floors. From behind him, the elevator dinged its arrival. They didn't waste a second running onto the elevator and into salvation.

One-by-one they piled in, taking one last look at the creatures. The creatures were still staring beyond the wall at whatever walked into the room. George said a silent thank you to whatever it was that bought them enough time to escape.

Then he saw it. Monica walked in, her gait appeared much like the zombies, but she didn't look or act like them at all. Her skin had paled and she still clutched onto the briefcase at her side. The briefcase was subtly different through, it was opened and whatever was inside had been broken.

When the creatures saw her and then the briefcase, they howled, hissing at her like cats. Their concise formation was broken up and they all fled into the farthest corner. If they could scale the walls, George was certain they would have.

As the elevator doors rolled closed, George caught a last glimpse of Monica falling to her knees and then tipping over onto her back. The elevator fell into silence, no one knowing what to say. George looked at Cindy, who was resting her head against the elevator panel. Everyone stood, panting from their last fight. This was their only respite and George couldn't believe he wanted it to end.

His wish was granted soon enough as the elevator ground to a halt, the doors sliding open after a short while. They stood in the entrance of a gigantic room that was completely empty except for a platform that took up half of area. It was a colossal waste of space, but from what George saw, it was the most reasonable thing that Umbrella had done so far.

He walked up to the panel and motioned for the others to get onto the platform. From the buttons on a little podium in the corner of the panel, it looked to be a lift of some sort. George pressed the button labeled "down" once everyone was on the platform. The platform gave a sudden jolt and creaked slowly down a shaft below them at an angle.

--

Monica's chest heaved as she moaned in agony; the pain was unbearable. She could feel it moving, moving around inside of her. With each step it took, her insides were being torn apart. It probed around, searching for a way out, trying to find the fastest way to the outside. Her eyes bulged when it found what it was looking for.

Between her sternum and rib cage, the creature wiggled through the space afforded from where two of her ribs never touched. Its size wouldn't allow it to squeeze through, so it forced its way through, breaking her ribs cleanly in two. She cried out in agony, but her voice wouldn't work, so she only made odd gagging noises. Tears streamed down her face, she couldn't hold on any longer, it was killing her. How could she let this happen, she was almost out when that damned moth attacked her, she could've been rich. All of her work, all of the time spent in this damned place, all for nothing.

She looked down and saw that from underneath her skin, the creature had made a lump in her flesh. It moved around, separating the fatty tissue from the bones and peeling her skin away. Again, her throat clamped closed, disallowing any sounds to escape. She gasped past the pain and felt only more pain when her lungs filled with air. Inside of her, the creature struggled to move when her ribs pinned it against her skin.

After what seemed an eternity, Monica felt the tiny claws ripping through her flesh, tearing her apart. She arched her back uncontrollably, trying to alleviate some of the pressure, trying to stop the creature from doing what it was going to do. In one final push, the creature tore through her body and shot out of the fresh hole made just below her breasts. Blood followed the little pink monstrosity in a thick 

stream. She collapsed back to the ground, her body sagging from the strain. In a pile, she lay there dead, all her work dying with her.

In quick sporadic movements, the creature moved around the room. With each step it took, the green beasts moved farther away, following the little pink creature's movements and reacting with equal steps in an opposite direction. With no eyes, the pink creature was moving off its sense of smell.

It knew the green beasts were there, but they weren't the prey it wanted, no it wanted something easier, something fresh. An intoxicating aroma came from its right, entrancing it, enticing it to move, to follow. Spurred on by its sudden hunger, the pink creature dove at the scent, trying to find the source of what it was that was calling it.

Suddenly, the creature hit something, something smooth and cold. Anger filled its thoughts, what was this thing daring to impede its path? Using its head, the creature banged itself over and over into the cold, hard, object. Slowly, the cold, hard, object gave into the creature's superior strength. A small hole was created, giving the creature access to the aroma once more. It took a step and then was falling. Air rushed past the creature, it could feel its insides turning, giving it a feeling of weightlessness.

A soft thud echoed around the creature, pain filled the creature's thoughts, but it wasn't enough to deter the creature from its meal. The aroma was coming from beneath the creature now, but another cold, hard, object was in the way.

Again, anger filled its thoughts; the creature used its claws to tear at the object, tearing another small hole big enough to fit through. After a short fall, the creature followed the aroma forward. Suddenly, the creature was aware of its surroundings. It couldn't quite see where it was, but it could sense where it was. The aroma was down in a hole, but the creature couldn't see anything. Hunger gnawed at its insides, egging it to continue.

With a small leap, the creature started down the hole, half-walking, half crawling down the hole.

--

The lift came to a slow stop at the bottom of the shaft. George was the first off the lift, looking around he didn't find anything dangerous. In fact, they walked into a place that seemed devoid of all life. As they walked off the platform, they found themselves in another hallway that led to a large train station. Before them was a red train, large enough to fit the entire population of the facility. Supplies were lined up along the adjacent wall, awaiting someone to load them onto the train. It looked as if some of the researchers had found their way down here and were loading the train, but they never finished.

George's first thought was to look for any bodies, but he didn't find any, no bloodstains either meant that there wasn't a struggle down here. The researchers must have gone back up for more supplies and found their doom there.

Even though, he couldn't see a reason to be, George felt uneasy. Something didn't fit; it just didn't feel right to him. He scratched the back of his head, looking at the supplies. His eyes caught something that made his heart race.

In with the other supplies was something he wasn't sure he wanted to see again. Enclosed in glass jars like before, three doses of the gray chemical rested against the wall. What exactly was this chemical used for and why would they need to bring it with them?

Slowly, George made his way over to the supplies. "David, look."

David's eyes followed George's finger to where he was pointing. His face went ashen when he saw what George was indicating. "What the hell is that doing here?"

David hurried over to where George knelt down, looking at the supplies and the chemicals. He rummaged through the boxes and threw what he didn't need aside.

"What are you doing?" Alyssa sounded suspicious, as if they were taking everything for themselves without waiting for the others.

George looked over his shoulder. "These chemicals are highly dangerous, they are explosive, and we want to know what else is in here." Using his free hand, George pointed at the three glass containers of the gray chemical.

"I've got some ammo here, shotgun shells, and some pistol rounds." David brought out the two boxes of ammo, keeping the shells; he put the pistol rounds on the ground. Alyssa instantly snatched up the pistol ammunition, keeping an eye on George, hoping he would protest. He was too preoccupied with the supplies to even notice.

"Hey, did you hear that?" Kevin said, shushing them. For a moment, they all stopped moving, listening for whatever it was that Kevin had heard. Nothing adulterated the silence that fell over them.

"What'd you hear?" Mark asked, a sudden shakiness prevailing in his voice. Mark looked around, checking the empty hallway surreptitiously.

Kevin rubbed his chin, thinking back on the sound he thought he heard, playing it over in his mind. "I'm not sure; I just thought I heard something like a soft crash or something like that."

George didn't want to disregard the warning, but if something had made a noise, it would have made it again. He turned back to his work, hoping to find what he was looking for within the myriad of supplies. Cindy knelt down next to him.

"What are you looking for?" She asked, pushing aside some things in a box that George hadn't gotten to yet.

"I figure that this place is advanced enough to have some first aid sprays. I saw one earlier and was going to grab it, but it was already frozen. It seems as if this place wasn't frozen as bad as the floors above us. If I can find one of those sprays, then it might be able to help us later on." Cindy nodded and began to help him look.

"Hey Yoko, do you remember this place at all?" Kevin asked while playing with a chain attached to the train.

"A little, but I can't be sure that I'm just making up the memories." Yoko paused and looked around the room. "When we would walk around, I thought I remember bits and pieces of the lab, but it was only when we actually got to the rooms and hallways. That led me to think that I was just making up the memories."

"I'm sorry, I don't know what it feels like to lose your memories, but I can imagine it is like hell." Kevin sounded sincere. He walked over and put a hand on Yoko's shoulder. She smiled but shirked away after a few seconds.

"It's pretty bad; I wish I knew about what I did here and the time while it was going on. Mostly though, I've just come to accept that I'll never know." Yoko started to move around. "I mean, maybe it's better that I don't know, maybe if I found out then I wouldn't like what I did here. Maybe I had something to do with these creatures. Maybe I was the head of the research."

She stopped and turned back to Kevin. It was obvious that she had been thinking about all of this throughout their trip through the lab. "You see, I can't know that what I did down here was…ethical or even moral. I think I don't want to know, I don't want to find out what kind of person I was. All that matters is who I am now, that's who I want to stay."

Kevin gave her a nod and left it at that. He walked over to the three people kneeling on the ground. Before he could say anything Alyssa leaned over and whispered something in his ear that George couldn't hear. Kevin gave her a soft smile and nodded.

"So, what exactly are you looking for?" Kevin asked, leaning over George's shoulder to look into the box he was occupied with rummaging through.

George waited a moment before answering. "This", George grunted as he pulled out two cans of the first aid spray.

"This is?" Kevin motioned to the two bottles in George's hands.

"Well, this spray helps to speed up the recovery process of small wounds and in bigger wounds, it also anesthetizes the area." George handed Cindy one of the sprays and put the other in his bag.

"Sounds good Doc, anything else we need from here?" David asked, pushing off the ground with his hands.

"No, I think we should be fine to leave. I suggest leaving the chemicals here; they're too dangerous to take with us." George hoisted his messenger bag onto his shoulder and started to walk towards the train. "Jim, can you drive this thing?"

Jim looked at him funny. "Man, I'm no conductor; I just take the tickets and shit."

"So, is that a no?" George didn't see why Jim was getting defensive.

"No, I can drive it; I just didn't see why you assumed I could." Jim walked to the train in a huff.

George turned to Cindy. "Did I miss something?"

She put a hand on his forearm. "I think we all did."

Jim pried open the automatic doors to the train and walked into the first compartment. Quickly, he made his way to the conductor's booth. George started to follow, but something stopped him. In the hallway where they had walked in was a small pink blob of organic material.

With only Jim inside the train, everyone stared at the little creature as it began to move. George's hand went for his pistol, but the creature didn't look to be doing anything threatening. It was moving slowly between them, towards the train. Oddly enough, it wasn't even moving towards the doors, but the front 

of the train. As it moved, the creature began to twitch. The twitching became more violent as the creature moved.

Finally, when it was near to the front of the train it hoped down onto the tracks. George and the others followed it around; they stood on the edge of the platform, looking down at the twitching creature.

The sounds of something akin to bones breaking and shifting came from the small creature. As the creature's arms began to move into alternate places, its body began to discharge a bluish-green liquid. Thick, grotesque, pustules pocked its skin, growing abnormally large and exploding into a disgusting splash of infected bodily juices. It screamed a high-pitched yell that sounded like an infant calf being slaughtered.

Slowly, the creature started to grow bigger, its skeletal structure expanding and stretching the skin to fit tightly over a layer of thickening muscles. To George, it seemed like the aging process of the creature had suddenly been accelerated. All he could do was stare in wonder and horror as the tiny creature suddenly became a massive monster, waiting to devour them.

One of the arms grew larger than its body and dragged on the ground, waiting for the rest of the body to catch up. The creature writhed on the ground, its still small arm flailing around, trying to right itself. Finally, its face started to develop. Quickly, fangs drew down from where the gums had been, piercing the mushy tissue. Blood and pus leaked from almost every orifice on the monster. With a final cry, the creature drew to its full height, righting itself and waving its one fully-grown arm at the train, crashing it into the windshield.

Jim fell backwards from the force of the impact, trying to catch the seat to prevent his fall. The force of the impact brought everyone out of their daze. Guns raised; bullets fired, the monster stood taking the onslaught.

With great strength, the creature hit the train once more, shaking the entirety of the locomotive. Jim mouthed them a plea to get the monster away from the train. George figured he needed time to figure out how to work the train. In an instant, they were running past the creature and climbing down onto the tracks behind where it stood.

George's feet hit the tracks; as soon as he landed, he sprang into a run, running to the other side of the tracks to make room for the others. He raised his pistol again, letting off a few more shots into the creature. George stood at the base of its long deformed tail, shooting as fast as he could into the hunched back.

Wind whipped around as the one large arm slapped through the air, hitting George square in the chest. Sharp pain stabbed through his entire body as the tracks flew past him. George hit the ground with a loud thud, rolling as the momentum pulled him farther away from the others. Darkness swallowed him when he fell into the tunnel that was behind him. Rail ties sent pain racing up his shoulders with each thwack.

After rolling a few feet, George came to a grinding halt. The world still spun, dizzying George all the more. He fought to maintain focus, but his head wouldn't stop spinning. Using his elbow as a stabilizer, George pushed himself onto his back and eventually onto his knees. Somewhere off in the distance, he heard the sounds of guns ringing out, being blocked out only by terse intermittent yelps from the monster.

From deep within him, George mustered whatever strength he had and got shakily to his feet. His entire body still ached from the numerous impacts with the rail ties, but George pushed the pain from his mind. He noticed that his pistol wasn't in his hand anymore; it was lying a few feet away off the track a little. Reaching down, he picked it up as he stumbled back down the tracks where the monster was.

As he was walking, he heard something odd, it sounded much like the creature did before the sudden transformation, but it couldn't be the monster. The monster was huge now; it couldn't possibly make those noises. George continued on, he guessed he was hearing the ghost of his fears from the not too distant past. Carefully, George walked over the ties, making sure his foot didn't get caught between any of them as he made his way down the track.

"What the hell is that thing?" Kevin's voice permeated through the haze of gunshots.

"I don't know; don't let it touch you though." Alyssa screamed back. George couldn't tell what they were screaming about, but he knew it wasn't something he wanted to let them face alone. He started to walk faster, covering more ground and using the walls as support. George growled and put his pistol away, wanting to focus all his energy on getting back to the others as fast as possible.

He moved with a measured need, stepping on the rail ties instead of between them, walking on the balls of his feet to reduce the effort. Everything was going the way he wanted until he heard it again. The squeal was louder this time, it sounded just like he remembered the creature sounding. George cast a glance over his shoulder, but saw nothing. As he turned around, it attacked. A small creature that looked exactly like the giant monster before the mutation leaped onto George, crawling on his clothes. It went from his stomach to his back as soon as George brought his hands down in front of him to pull it off.

George nearly toppled over with the sudden increase in weight on his stomach. He quickly righted himself and reached behind to remove the creature. Little claws poked holes through his jacket as it moved effortlessly from his back to his front, dodging George's hands. Growling in frustration, George tried one last futile attempt to trap the creature before trying to take his jacket off. As if it understood what he was doing, the creature ran under his jacket and around to the back.

Fear was gripping him, he couldn't get it off, he couldn't free himself of this danger. George stumbled forward, coming into the light. His eyes burned as they tried to adjust for the new light. He could see the others fighting hard to kill the monster. Blood soaked the ground everywhere, mostly coming from the monster. George could see that Mark lay bloodied on the side of the tracks in a state between consciousness and unconsciousness, Yoko was holding his head in her lap, desperately trying to keep him awake. Cindy was applying herbs to the gash on the side of his head, sopping up rivers of blood with a bit of her vest.

George lost his footing and toppled to the ground, rolling onto his back as he fell. The creature came out from behind his back, staring at him as he lay on the ground. Its beady eyes watched him as he stared back. It could smell his fear, he knew it, for some reason it just stood there doing nothing. Two little legs shifted the creature's weight with each breath George took. It didn't weight much, but George felt like it was an anvil crushing him.

A gurgled emitted from its mouth, yellow foam bubbled inside. George's eyes went wide, not knowing what was going on. Some of the foam drooped down, making the bubbles move into an elongated pattern. As it touched his chest, George screamed like he had never screamed before. Pain exploded from the base of his skull all the way down his spine. He arched his back and twisted, trying to get the pain to stop. Short convulsions overtook his body; he felt the bile in his stomach shoot out of his mouth.

Instinctually, George's hands found the creature on his chest and threw it from him as fast as possible. He turned over and let out another scream, clawing at his chest to make the hurt stop. It moved to his 

hands when he touched it, making it hurt even worse. Tears of pain flowed down his face as he scrambled to his knees slowly. Without moving as much as possibly, George reached into his bag and fished around for what he was looking for. He felt the smooth cylindrical container and let out a sigh of relief. Quickly, George pulled the first aid spray from the bag and used his uninjured fingers to spray his chest and hands.

Almost as soon as the spray hit the wound, the pain subsided. George finished off the can and instantly grabbed his pistol, suddenly aware that the little creature hadn't been killed yet. He saw it scurry off into the darkness of the tunnel. Following it with his pistol, George moved back towards the others, hoping to gain some distance between the creature.

"George, are you alright?" David asked, pumping his shotgun and putting another shot into the giant monster.

"I've been better, but we need to get out of here." George yelled over his shoulder.

"You're telling me, this thing just won't die. I'm almost out of shells again and this thing doesn't look to be hurt at all."

George's mind raced, he didn't know what they would do. Jim couldn't drive the train if the monster was still alive, the train wouldn't be able to push past the monster if it kept hitting the train. Besides, with those little creatures around no one was safe. George looked around at everything, trying to think of what they could do.

It came to him all-of-a-sudden. "Cindy! Let Yoko take care of Mark. You remember those chemicals I told you about?" When she nodded, he continued. "Good, get them and bring them back here."

Cindy tore off another strip of her vest and handed it to Yoko, who wrapped it around Mark's bloody head. She struggled to hoist herself up onto the platform. Flopping down on her stomach, Cindy climbed up and rolled over onto her feet. She disappeared behind the train and came back a few seconds later with the chemicals.

"Be careful!" George screamed. He tapped David's back and pointed to Cindy with the chemicals. He nodded and grabbed Kevin's arm to pull him back. George ran back towards the tunnel with Alyssa's arm in his hand. Yoko looked at Kevin and David as they took Mark by the arms and hauled him back a few feet. When they were a safe distance away, George nodded to Cindy. "Go for it!"

Without wasting time to respond, Cindy lobbed the first container at the monster. Blinding light enveloped the room, a sudden burst of heat followed close after. The force of the shock wave threatened to push George over as the wind whooshed by his head. George crossed his arms in front of his face, shielding it from the dazzling heat.

As the explosion ended, the air whooshed by once more, coming from behind this time, trying to suck George towards the monster. When he could see again, George saw that the monster was lying on the ground, burns covered its body, turning it from pink to a blackened mess. A smile spread across his face, the monster was dead, it was all finished. They could finally get out of here on the train.

When George turned to climb the platform, the monster moved again, pushing itself up with its one good arm. He could hear Cindy growl a warning before she threw the next container at the monster. Another blinding light circled around George, burning his eyes. The heat almost took the breath out of him as the wind whipped by once more.

When the explosion ended, the monster was lying on the ground again, completely blackened from this explosion, smoke billowed off its body, blood spurt out of its charred flesh. Yet it still moved and pushed itself up.

"Damnit, why won't this thing die?" Alyssa screamed, preparing herself for the final chemical container. Cindy didn't wait for them to get ready; she lobbed the final container at the monster. George saw sparkles within the light as it burned his eyes again; the whole ordeal was as disorienting as the hit from the monster. Thankfully, he was near the edge of the platform, or he would have fallen. He tightened his grip on the platform and pushed his elbow onto the edge to keep his buckling knees from making him collapse. It felt as if his skin was on fire the third time around, the wind not helping the matter at all.

If it was possible, the explosion seemed to last longer this time. When the air was done whizzing past him, George dared to look at the monster, the last of their containers was used, they had no other hope. If the monster wasn't dead this time, they were surely going to die.

George couldn't discern the charred mass before him from the blackened ground. It lay there unmoving for almost a full minute before it struggled to stand back up. George's world collapsed around him; that was their last hope, their only chance to escape this place and it didn't even work. Maybe if they shot it some more in its weakened state…

Sullenly, George fell to his knees, hanging his head. He heard Kevin whisper something in despair, but none of that mattered; they were going to die anyway. George felt the butt of his pistol, he considered quickly, whether it was better to kill himself now, or let the monster handle that.

Without warning, three bright lights blinded him. A loud mechanical whirl sounded, filling his head. Sparks shot out from behind the monster as the train lurched to life. In the few yards it had, the train reached a deadly speed. A sickening crush erupted from the collision. The monster let out an ear-shattering screech, bones broke, blood burst onto the windshield.

The monster's tail fell under the train, severing it from the rest of the body as the monster was pushed along the rails. When Jim was close to the other survivors, he put on the brakes, coming to a stop a few feet away. The train was pushing along the monster's dead carcass effortlessly.

"All aboard!" Jim yelled sarcastically at the survivors. Cindy ran over to where George was trying to climb up. His arms wouldn't work, he was too exhausted. David reached under his foot and started to push him up. George bent at the waist and flopped onto his stomach, using his chest as an anchor to keep him from falling. Cindy bent down to help him up, but stopped midway.

From within the tunnel, a loud screeched echoed. The little creature burst from the shadows, running along the edge of the platform at a blinding speed. It scampered along, racing for George. He couldn't do anything; his pistol was pinned in his waistband. George flopped around, trying to get up on the platform before the creature could reach him.

It was only a few feet away and he couldn't move fast enough. David pushed him up as hard as he could, but it wasn't going to work. The creature was going to have George. He could see the yellow foam bubbling from its mouth, the acidic liquid burning a path in the platform, trailing wherever the creature ran.

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out, the creature exploded in a brilliant mixture of red and yellow gore. George shielded himself from the acid with his jacket. He could feel his jacket and shirt melting under the foam. As quick as possible, George rolled onto the platform and stripped himself of his jacket and shirt.

He rolled onto his knees, panting in only a white undershirt. Cindy stood with a smoking pistol, still trained on where the creature was, where it almost got George.

"T…thanks." George breathed out. One by one, the others climbed up onto the platform. After unhooking the lead car from the caboose, they piled in and plopped down on the chairs. Jim looked back at the others from the conductor's booth.

"Where to?" He asked, as if they had a choice.

"Anywhere but here." Alyssa said, looking at Cindy spraying Mark's bleeding head with their last first aid spray.


	33. Chapter 33

The train roared on, bumping and rolling as it sped down the track. Cindy had taken off her vest and wrapped it around Mark's head. Thankfully, the bleeding had subsided a little while ago and he was wake even if he was a little groggy. George turned away from Mark and looked out the window at the shapeless blobs whizzing by in an indistinguishable array of buildings and trees.

"So is this train supposed to take us out of the city?" Kevin's voice pulled George out of his stupor. He turned to see Kevin leaning into the conductor's booth, using the doorway as a grounding base to lean in farther.

"I don't know man." Jim was busy concentrating on which buttons and levers he needed to operate to switch the tracks. Frankly, George wasn't even sure Jim knew where he was going. "Look, I work on the subway, not above ground."

"So, you really don't know where you're going…" Kevin's voice had an edge to it that suggested he was about to attack Jim.

"It's better than staying there isn't it?" Alyssa asked, putting a hand on Kevin's shoulder. Kevin turned to her, his eyes still heated that Jim led them to believe he could work the train. When he saw it was her, he visibly cooled down and pushed away from the conductor's booth.

"I suppose." Kevin said as he plopped down on a seat next to the conductor's booth. George shared a confused look with Cindy. Why did Kevin suddenly calm down?

George's eyes lingered on Kevin for a while before turning back to the window. If Jim was able to somehow get them out of the city and not killed, he'd be fine but being the only one who knew anything about trains, they might have just entrusted their lives into the very hands of death. No, that's not fair George wasn't giving Jim a chance. He mentally reprimanded himself and continued to stare out the window. George heard someone's voice and looked over to see Cindy inspecting an unruly Mark's wounds.

"I told you, I'm fine." Mark swatted away Cindy's hands. She harrumphed and put her hands on her hips.

"You think that just by saying that, any bacteria or _viruses_ will stay out." George almost laughed at the tone of her voice. She sounded much like a mother reprimanding a child. She put the bottle of rubbing alcohol she had found on the train down on a nearby seat and tore his hands from the wound. She wagged a finger at him, warning him not to move. With a strip of medical gauze, Cindy dabbed the alcohol on his cut. Mark let out a cry of pain, pulling away as soon as the alcohol soaked gauze touched the cut. Cindy immediately grabbed the back of his head and held him still while she placed the gauze back on. Mark cringed and growled his displeasure.

Despite the not-so-subtle overtone of gloom, everyone was slightly jovial. They were in a train that was possibly bound for safety. George couldn't believe that the nightmare was almost over. If they could find a way out, then they were saved.

George had a thought that brought his mood down. What about Mark and David? They were most likely infected, would there be a cure for them?

Lost in his thoughts once more, the train rolled on while George stared out the window. Time seemed to stretch on, at times it felt like the train was slowing, but just as soon as he realized it; it was speeding up again. George let out a tight-lipped sigh. They were leaving, why was he so depressed? Maybe he wasn't depressed, just skeptical he thought. Getting out had been so hard before, why was it all-of-a-sudden so easy? Shouldn't everything be locked down? With a biological disaster like this, the military would have surely been quarantining the entire city. So far, George hadn't seen any sign of a military presence in the city.

He suddenly realized why he felt so odd; it was too easy. Everything that had seemed easy this night had turned out horribly wrong. Alarms went off in his mind, something must be waiting for them, that monster they had killed in the lab must've gotten on the train. George looked around the small compartment. They had unhooked the rest of the caboose; there was no way that the monster could be hiding in this tiny compartment.

_It's all in your head George. This must be what it feels like to have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, jumping at the slightest thing._

George felt a hand on his arm and looked to see two bright blue eyes staring back in sympathy. "It's over George, we can relax now." Cindy stroked his forearm as she spoke. He wasn't sure if he could believe her, or if she believed herself for that matter, but he took solace in her words.

With a sigh, he sat back in his chair again, giving her a small smile of thanks. Cindy looked back at Mark, who was sulking in the corner, trying his hardest not to touch the bandage Cindy had put on him.

"You do good work; I would take you to be my nurse any day." His complement was well received.

"Well, perhaps I will take you up on that offer when we get out of this place. You know, I only need another year until I'm certified."

"I remember; I'll put in a good word for you. In fact I'll tell them I won't work unless you're by my side." They both chuckled quietly. Two seats in front of them, Kevin and Alyssa were fast asleep, the reporter's head had fallen and came to rest on the officer's shoulder at one point during the nap. George smiled at how even someone like Kevin could find happiness during a tragedy such as this. Even though Kevin wasn't exactly agreeable with George, George had a certain respect for the man.

Cindy yawned and stretched a little before resting her head on his shoulder. She caught herself quickly. "You don't mind do you?"

"No, go right ahead." George said. She didn't realize how much he didn't mind. He put his own head back on the chair and stared out the window again. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't get the feeling of dread out of his system. He felt as though, if he let his guard down, something was going to happen.

The train jostled around, jerking his head left and right. Not wanting to move or expend any more energy, he let it happen. His brow furrowed when the scenery outside changed. Trees and forests gave way to abandoned buildings and rusted train tracks. Fires still burned in trashcans that were set ablaze by cold survivors. Houses were charred black and standing only by thin pieces of burned wood, some weren't even that lucky. Bodies littered the streets; a once peaceful place had become a blood soaked battlefield where the only ones who persevered were the ones who lost the most humanity within themselves.

What had become of his city, the city he once loved, the city in which his family once lived? A sudden sadness overcame him, a tear rolled down his cheek, landing softly on his white undershirt. His sadness was short-lived. Almost immediately after passing the streets, he came to a scene of unimaginable horror. A small train depot was littered with blood and bodies. Three cabooses were overturned in the middle of the tracks off to his left. They were smashed like a soda can, blood leaking out of the windows.

From the looks of it, the three trains were carrying survivors who, like them, were seeking refuge on the trains. They must have collided while flying by on the tracks and killed the occupants. George wanted to scream, scream because of the agony they had felt. He had to look away from the desolate scene; his only hope was that Jim wouldn't let that happen to them.

The train went on for a few more miles and George couldn't relax enough to get the image of those trains out of his head. Reluctantly, it kept coming back the harder he tried to forget about it. Finally, he decided to fixate on something else, something pleasant.

Before he could think about anything, the train roared as Jim slammed the breaking lever. "Shit!"

George flew forward, putting out his arm to protect his face and the other to protect Cindy from flying forward. His hand hit the headrest in front of him and the other went across Cindy's shoulders. Everyone jerked awake, grumpy, and suddenly alarmed.

"What's wrong, what's going on?" Kevin said, standing and looking to see if Alyssa was alright. Jim pushed down hard on the breaking lever, locking it in place.

"There's something in the path, we're going to need to move it before we can keep going."

Kevin looked at Jim for a second before answering. "Well, let's move it." Kevin shrugged Jim's worries away and started to head for the door.

"It's not that easy…" Jim's voice trailed off as Kevin left through the door and stepped outside.

"Aw shit…" Kevin's voice came from outside. George stood up after checking that Cindy was okay, when she insisted that she was fine, he stood up and followed David outside to see what was wrong. Outside, a large metal gate stood closed in front of them, barring their exit. George moaned; he knew it was too easy; everything is too easy.

Cindy, Alyssa, and Yoko walked out behind George and moaned to themselves, they too were weary of this everlasting torment. George walked back inside and got his pistol. When he came back outside, Kevin and David were eyeing the gate, deciding what the best course of action was.

"Look, we can just turn back now and try another route." Kevin seemed determined not to have to stop anywhere.

"Yeah, and then what? What if this is the easiest way, what if we don't find anything out there?" David had too many possibilities.

"Well, I'm not much considering just giving up on looking, just because we might be able to open a gate that could lead to another gate. That's ludicrous." Kevin's hushed voice rose as he frantically waved his hands out at the gate, indicating the area beyond.

"Kevin, I have to agree with David, trusting in the unknown at a time like this isn't very productive. We have to deal with what we are given. I don't like this as much as you, but to be honest, I like this a lot more than some of the things I saw out there tonight. There are more ways we can die out here than I can imagine and if putting myself in a little more danger is all that is required to get out safely, then that is what I will have to do. Sure it might be safer to turn back, but what if by turning back now, we miss our only opportunity to get out?" George looked at him, pleading with his eyes for Kevin to listen to reason. "We have to try this; if anything we can simply come back and turn around then."

Kevin folded his arms, he was clearly not interested in leaving the sanctity of the train, but he was considering their words. With a groan, Kevin nodded his consent and motioned for them to lead on.

David scratched his chin, looking out into the opening next to them. "What about Mark?"

"What about him?" Kevin asked in response. "He can't come with us, he's hurt."

"The hell I am." Mark stumbled out of the train, but caught himself before he fell. "Just a little woozy that's all, I'll be fine."

"You're sure about this?" George could see that he was recovering nicely, but a few more hours rest would be better for him.

"Yeah, I don't want to be in that train if any of them zombies show up." Mark pointed back to the train. "It'd be like shootin' fish in a barrel for them."

"I can't argue with him." Alyssa said, admiring his sensibility.

"Alright, point taken." Kevin said as he turned to walk through a small entranceway into the area beyond. Almost immediately, they came to a small out cove with two single doors, leading out onto the streets.

George's resolve was shaken to its core when he saw where they were. A large section of the street was open, but to either side of them, cars that had broken down and were parked haphazardly on the street blocked off the road. In front of them, the only way to go was the Raccoon Zoo.

"Dear God…" George mumbled to himself. If the experimentation could make people into mindless killing machines, then what could it do to the animals? Obviously, their already bestial nature would worsen, forgetting their training was the least of his worries. George stopped for a second. No, that wasn't true, only a few diseases could transfer from humans to animals; even then none of those diseases could do anything of this magnitude. Perhaps, the animals merely died, or were eaten. George felt confident again in the plan.

"Aw, hell…the zoo?" Jim complained from the doorway.

"Well, it's our best bet as of now." George said, hoping that they wouldn't have to convince anyone of the necessity of what they were doing again. Kevin held his tongue, willing to see their plan through until they figured out if it was worth it or not to continue.

"I used to volunteer at the zoo, before I went to school of course." Cindy stepped forward, recognizing the area. A group of cars obscured the bus stop she would sit at, but she was sure this was the spot. "That was two years ago, but I think I can still get around."

"Good, that means you can tell us how to open the gate, right?" Kevin's wishful thinking was somewhat sarcastic by its tone.

"Sadly, no, only the managers could handle that. Since the railroad is technically on zoo property, they were given rights over the gateway. Sorry". Cindy shrugged in apology. "The whole zoo is rather large; we might have a better chance of finding the gate mechanism if we split up."

"Are you nuts?" Kevin spoke up suddenly. "We're walking into the zoo, where any one of the animals can be just as infected as any of the people around here and you want us to split up?"

"Kevin, this is some disease, in most of the diseases we know about, there are relatively few that can transfer from a human to an animal and vice-versa." George's explanation seemed to register in Kevin's mind.

"Besides, the zoo is enormous, if we don't split up, then we could be here for hours." Cindy chimed in, hoping to add weight to George's reasoning. The idea of spending any more time in the zoo than necessary reigned true in their minds, almost instantly George could see understanding wash over their faces.

"Fine, we'll split up then." Kevin folded his arms, he wasn't happy about the idea though.

"We'll be better off splitting up into four groups of two." Cindy motioned towards the zoo. "One for each concourse."

"Alright, then I guess you can go with-"

"I'll go with George." Cindy moved closer to George, she didn't want to be alone with Kevin. George had to conceal the smile trying to force its way onto his face.

"Fine, then David, can you go with Mark, and Alyssa you're with me." Kevin took charge once more, ignoring Cindy's interruption. "Jim, you're with Yoko."

"What the hell man, neither of us has a gun."

Kevin let out an audible sigh; he looked around at the others, waiting for someone to give him a gun. Mark mumbled something and took out his pistol, handing it to Jim.

"Take care of that, yah hear?" Mark walked next to David and waited.

"Are you happy now?" Kevin asked sarcastically.

"Well man, what'd you expect me to say? You wanted me to go in there empty handed?" Jim folded his arms and tsked.

Cindy ignored their squabbling and pointed back to the open gateway. "Through there is the front plaza, that's we're we'll meet back. From there we can get to the other areas."

As they passed through the gates, Cindy let out an audible sigh. "Looks like we won't be splitting up after all." David said.

The two main gates in the front plaza were on opposite sides of each other, one however was blocked completely by debris. With only the one door, splitting up would be impossible. Two identical lion statues faced the front gate, their mouths hanging open as if they were laughing at their misfortune.

The front plaza was broken up into three sections, two long narrow walkways led down either side of a larger central pathway. On either side of the front plaza, small boarded up shops lined the two narrow walkways. Small lights hung over the awning of the shops flickered, casting the whole area in a creepy glow that gave George the shivers.

Cindy walked into the center of the area, stopping in the middle of a large circular clearing with the two lion statues facing the front gate. She looked up at either statute and frowned. Slowly, she approached one and put her hand on it, running it over an indentation just below the base of the figure.

"There's supposed to be something here." Her voice was hollow, almost nonexistent. Her pace quickened as she walked over to its sister statute and ran her hand along another indentation just below the base of the lion figurine. Her brow drew in consternation. "Maybe we have to put something in these to open the other gate."

"I wouldn't put it past them." David grumbled. "I mean, everything so far would point to that being right. They're also probably hidden away so we have to figure out some crazed puzzle in order to get access to them."

Kevin put a hand on his hip and looked around at the plaza. "Look, maybe we should just-"

A loud scream echoed in the plaza, coming from behind them at the front gate. Running for his life, a man stumbled through the gate, falling over and knocking a few trashcans down on the ground spreading the contents all over the ground. The man was no older than twenty-four, his plaid button down shirt was opened a few buttons below the collar, proudly displaying a black undershirt. His once fresh khakis were now wrinkled and torn.

Using his hands to help him continue moving, the man half-ran half-crawled his way to the group. When he noticed them standing there, he screamed again and scrambled away as fast as possible.

"D…Don't eat me, don't eat me!" He screamed; stumbling and rolling to the side, finally falling to the ground and throwing his hands up defensively. As he lay on the ground, holding up his hands and legs, hoping to ward off his would-be attackers, the survivors neither moved nor said anything.

When the man realized they weren't moving, he let his guard down a bit. "Y…you're not zombies are you?"

"Not since the last time I checked, no." Alyssa mocked the man's blatant fear. The man suddenly got to his hands and knees and pushed himself up, brushing clean his already dirtied outfit.

"Well, we can't stay here, they're coming." The man pointed back towards where the train waited.

"What do you mean?" Kevin's voice rose, his sense of alarm rising with it.

"Well, I was going to take that train, but the gate is locked, I was just going to go back, but the way is blocked. As soon as I looked out for a way to get the gate open, a group of them zombies attacked me." He wiped some sweat from his forehead with the sleeve of his shirt. George thought he should feel angry that the man was going to take their last hope of survival, but found himself sympathizing with the man's need to survive. Looting was commonplace now; they themselves had stolen the train.

The man looked around and caught himself, realizing something. He held out his hand to Alyssa. "I'm sorry, my name is Sean Smith."

Alyssa stared at the man for a second before taking his hand and introducing herself. After each of them introduced themselves, they watched the strange man for a minute. For some reason, they felt a strange loathing of the man they had just met. Over the past few hours, they had become a close-knit family; this man was an outsider, suddenly thrust upon them. George didn't know what to think, the 

man didn't seem threatening; in fact, he seemed a little…dimwitted. However, he couldn't shake an uneasy feeling about the man.

Feeling uncomfortable, the man dry washed his hands. "So, uh what are you all doing here?"

"Trying to…escape." David sounded like he felt the question was pretty obvious.

"Right, of course you are. No one's going to go to the zoo during a time like this." Sean gave a self-conscious chuckle. No one else laughed. "So, do you mind if I join you in…escaping?"

A couple of quick glances between each other revealed everyone's opinion. No one wanted him to come, but at a time like this, they couldn't very well leave the man here. Reluctantly, Kevin spoke up.

"Alright, you can come. We wouldn't leave a man out here to die." Sean's eyes went wide with relief and he looked on the verge of giving each of them a substantial bear hug, but held off, knowing it would only make things more awkward than they already were.

"Thank you, I swear I won't be a bother on anyone." Sean readjusted his shirt as if it would make him presentable.

George looked back at the two statues of the lions; they were their only hope now. With the other way blocked, they could only press forward into the unknown. Ahead of them was a difficult journey, searching through what could be certain death, to find two obscure objects that could fit into the indentations, in the hope that by some chance they could open the gate to proceed into uncertainty elsewhere.

With a sigh, he rubbed his arms, for some reason the air just felt colder to him. He realized that he only had on an undershirt and felt a little embarrassed to be so exposed. The tight fitting shirt did little to cover him from the night chill also; he needed to find something else to put on. In the zoo, he figured it wouldn't be too hard to find something suitable to keep the cold from getting the better of him.

"We should get going." He reminded everyone. "If what he says is true, those zombies are going to look for where he went."

As if on cue, they heard the moans of the zombies that stalked them from the other side of the gate. Not needing another hint, they crossed the plaza, passing by the ominous shops and statues to the only door that was unblocked. Their journey into the zoo was only beginning and already George had a bad feeling. For a moment, he considered whether or not their best option was to fight the zombies.


	34. Chapter 34

The wind had picked up slightly, almost unnoticeably. Little spots of rain dotted the dusty ground ahead of them. Clumps of mud started to form along the side of the trail leading to the desolate performance stage. Benches were screwed to the ground with long metal screws that had taken on a coat of rust from years outside during horrible weather spells. An eerie dim light illuminated the slightly damaged wood on the front of the stage.

George scratched the stubble growing on his chin as he stared intently at the sight before him. Something about it caught his eye. He glanced at the backdrop, painted yellow with a few symbols scrawled on the roughly cut plywood. Making a mental note of the area, George looked away at the door next to him.

When George pulled on the handle, the door gave way, but came to an abrupt halt after a few inches. The sound of rattling chains permeated the door. George clicked his tongue and walked over to the ladder next to the doors. He tested the metal, making sure that it was better cared for than the benches before ascending the small distance onto an elevated stage. On the stage, a number of buttons and knobs decorated a soundboard as well as a spot to control the lights. George flicked a switch and the little light that was illuminating the front of the stage grew brighter to the melody of gasps and cries below.

"Sorry." George apologized quickly and moved away from the desk. There were a few shelves behind him, next to another door that held a myriad of audio tapes and filters for the light. George scanned them quickly, finding only obscure titles that only the operator would recognize. He came across one that had no title and looked to be blank. Instead of putting it back carefully, George placed it on top of the shelf and moved on to the next area.

As he came around the shelves and saw a door, David climbed up the ladder and looked over the control panel quickly. George slowly pushed on the door; it creaked open slowly. Before he had the door open fully, he stepped back.

"There's a door up here, not sure where it leads." He shouted to the others below.

"Anything…sound dangerous?" Kevin's voice was shaky and unsure. George took the hint and pushed the door open slightly, listening intently to the silence beyond. Nothing betrayed itself to him, only the silence was beyond the door.

"I don't hear anything." George said.

"All right, we'll be up in a second." George could hear Kevin starting to climb the ladder. He decided to take a quick look while he waited; sliding his head through a small opening, he created. Inside, the room was dark enough that he couldn't see very well, but instead let his eyes adjust to the change in lighting. After a few moments, he could start to see the outlines of what looked like cages set up for animals. However, what made him nervous was that all of them seemed to be empty. As if to calm his panicking subconscious, he began to think of excuses as to why they weren't in the cages. _These cages must be for transportation purposes only._

George pushed the delusions from his mind just in time to see Kevin walk up behind him, placing a hand on his shoulder silently, to announce his arrival.

"What do we have here?" He asked, feigning interest.

"Cages, lots of them. I'm not sure if anything's in there other than the cages, but we can't be too careful." George slipped the door open slowly, allowing Kevin to peer into the darkness beyond. The officer let out a dissatisfied groan and leaned back against the railing, waiting for the others to scramble up the ladder. With a calm and collected voice, George warned the others that had gathered into a small grouping, pushing against each other to hear George's soft voice. He got a few nods in response, the gesture telling him they understood and were prepared to enter into the room of uncertainty.

The door creaked as he pulled it open, following the architecture of the door and pressing himself against the railing to soften his footfalls. George moved with an efficiency that he had gained throughout the night, running from and slinking by the undead for hours. A strange musk hung low in the air, filling George's lungs and making him gag soundlessly. He fought the urge to run away and find another route, but before he could even consider it, Kevin was already half way through the crack in the doorway.

In another instant, George was moving down the stairs, his legs pushing him forward on their own. The makeshift railing, fashioned out of left over pipes was cold to the touch, rubbing irritatingly against his hands as he descended the small incline. Within the span of a few short breaths, George was walking on 

the floor again, staring around the room, getting a feel for the atmosphere. Darkness was all encompassing, caressing his body, taunting him into a bother. Kevin strode up behind him, moving past the doctor and further into the room, dodging a cage that seemed to jump out at him. George found his feet once more, breaking them from the earth, and shattering his reserve. A newfound need engendered inside of him, getting out of the room burned in his being, spurring him to move.

George crept around the shadows of the metal goliaths, following the path Kevin forged, approaching the ethereal light flooding in around the edges of a door in the far corner. The room was spread out, serpentining around, forming an S shaped pathway. As George passed, he could see that in many of the cages, the bars were bent asunder, opening holes that could allow many of the large animals to easily escape.

His pace quickened with the beat of his heart. George's palm brushed the butt of his pistol, readying his hand in case he had need to draw. As he winded his way around the crest of the next turn, sheltered in the shadows of the large cages, Kevin reached the door. He spun around on the ball of his heel and waited for George and the others to catch up. After a few moments, the unkempt group huddled around the room, waiting to extricate themselves from within the cold, dark, belly of the cage room.

Without any hesitance, Kevin pushed open the door, letting the light flood into the room, chasing away the darkness in an odd battle where the group of survivors was the only casualties. George shielded his eyes, hoping to stave off the pain from becoming slightly acclimated to the darkness. Outside, George looked around at the desolate scene. Carts, once used to bring baubles designed to catch a child's eye, lay broken and battered along the ground. Pieces of wood and tapestry were torn and thrown haphazardly around the small walkway, plastic sculptures of animals and clowns were flattened underfoot by desperate denizens of the zoo.

George looked on in awe, staring at the perdition set before him. The only thing that made him look away was a little valley off to his side; runoff would coalesce and flow out of the path of the customers, going to a stream or tributary. It wasn't, however, the valley itself that caught George's attention, but the small, almost insignificant ventilation shaft into the room they had just gone that caught his attention. With the advent of another access point to the room, and consequently the train station beyond, George felt slightly more confident. If the need were to arise, they would have another way into the building, garnering them safe passage back to the way they had come.

David let out a cough, which collectively brought everyone out of the stupor that had settled amongst them like another, unwelcomed, party member. George readjusted his surgical pants and made sure that his pistol was within reach before following the others down the walkway and to the left, towards the rest of the zoo. To his right, George noticed that the debris that had settled from the broken carts and displays blocked another pathway. He couldn't see much beyond, but he hoped and prayed it wasn't somewhere they needed to go. Not wanting to be left behind, George shook his head of the idea and followed the others through the only other door in the area.

Through the next door, the group had found themselves at their first impasse. The road ahead split off into two directions. They would have to split up into smaller groups as they had decided earlier. David folded his arms and let out an annoyed sigh.

"Looks like we're splitting up after all right?" Mark suggested, his voice gruff but getting better. He stood up straight, trying to belay the point that he was fit to go on. Kevin looked at their two options, judging something in his mind.

"I suppose it's the quickest way, right?" Kevin looked at Alyssa and then Cindy. Both looked like they agreed, but said nothing. "All right, Alyssa, Jim, and Yoko we can go this way," Kevin pointed off to the right path that followed around the large gated cages. "Everyone else, the other way."

George didn't feel like arguing, but he also couldn't see anything wrong with his predestined path, in fact, it looked significantly less ominous than Kevin's chosen path. Regardless, as always he didn't like the idea, but conceded the necessity. He gave a cursory glance from Kevin to Sean; idly he wondered who would take the new comer with them. He didn't have to think long, Kevin interjected.

"Sean you can come with us down this way." Kevin was thinking the same thing that George was; he didn't want the man out of his sight. As much as he didn't want to leave Kevin with the onerous task of constantly watching the man, George was glad that Kevin took the burden upon himself instead of letting the other's bear it for him.

When everyone was situated and ready to go their separate ways, the two groups waved to each other and set up a meeting place. George held fast, a sudden sorrow flashing over him, as always this could be the last time seeing any of the others. He had to get a quick grip on his emotions, lest they betray the hesitations he had.

With all the certainty he could muster, George followed David and Mark as they walked down the pathway, leading to a large wooden door. It surprised George that Mark was walking so easily, his injuries were definitely not healed fully, but Mark wasn't showing any signs that he was hurt at all. His gait was that of a perfectly healthy man.

George looked ahead, noticing the large wooden doors looming in front of them. He looked around for another door, but found none. The heavy wooden doors would be impossible for them to open with only four people, even if they were unlocked. For a few seconds, when they reached the doors, George considered running back to the others, hoping they didn't get too far away to catch up to. However, Cindy stepped up before he could suggest anything and pushed open a small, normal sized door open that was nearly hidden in with the other wood. As he passed through, George felt along the seam, there was no visible evidence that the little slab of wood was actually a doorway.

Swallowing a grunt of approval, George walked up next to Cindy. "So, are there anymore hidden things like that?"

"Hidden? Uh, no only those doors are built like that; they have one for each concourse." Cindy readjusted her torn shirt and looked around. "Um, if it hasn't been moved, there should be a wardrobe room in one of the buildings near here."

George looked at his own clothes and then to the others. Each of them needed something else to wear, if they continued on with what they had on, they were likely to be traveling naked soon enough. "Fair enough, where is it?"

Cindy was lost in thought for a moment, going over a mental map of the zoo. She looked to the wall next to them. "I'm not sure which building this is, so if I can figure that out and get my bearings then I can find it for us. I know it's a cabin near the lake, but without a landmark I don't remember enough to get us there."

"All right," George said following the edge of the wall with his eyes until he found the end. "Let's find out what building this is."

The pathway, formed by the wall of the unknown building on one side and a tattered cage on the other, was short but wide. Plants, growing in the captivity of clay pots adorned with designs depicting the images of an elephant and a lion--alternating on each pot, lined the side of the building. George felt and ominous chill run down his spine as they passed a break in the wooden fence between two cages. Beyond the hole in the fence was a lake, debris floating erratically in the murky water, discolored from the pools of blood and dirt that hadn't quite mixed with the water. He thought he caught sight of some movement, but after a split second of seeing nothing more, discounted the notion as his mind playing tricks on him.

Cindy was the first to round the corner, sticking close to the wall to minimize any unwelcomed attention from anything that might be waiting on the other side of the wall. When she saw nothing on the other side, she warily moved away from the wall and stared at the side of the building. Written with large, thick, plastic letters were the words: Zoo Office building.

She rubbed her smooth chin, trying to place themselves within the map in her mind. After a few seconds, she seemed to recognize the area. "Alright, I know where we are and where we have to go." Cindy moved away from the office building and back towards the intersection. "That door right there," She pointed to a door back down the pathway far removed from where they stood. "It leads to a small winding pathway, which will lead us to the cabin."

They quickly retraced their steps, reaching the door and coming to a halt before Cindy opened the hidden doorway. As she pushed and twisted the ornate handle, she was stopped suddenly, her momentum pushing her backwards, almost falling down. George slipped his arms underneath her armpits, blocking her descent. After a cursory "thank you", Cindy regained her composure and rechecked the door. Once again, she twisted the handle and pushed on the door. With a grinding thud, the door bounced backwards, never opening.

"Don't tell me it's locked." David grumbled.

"That'd be lying." Cindy said, still staring at the door. After a few seconds, she felt the handle and looked at the lock. Bending over, she leaned closer and tried to discern something under the handle in the meager light of the lamppost. "There's something here, it looks like a…lion."

Cindy stood back up to her full height and turned to the others. "A clue?"

Mark shrugged but offered some help. "Maybe it's the key that goes to the door. I know the places that hire us usually give us guards hints to which keys open which doors. We can't expect to memorize everythin' when first comin' to these places. It could be somethin' like that." His southern accent seemed to ring true, and no one could come up with any reason that his guess wasn't valid.

"Well, where would we find the keys then? I'm sure the janitor isn't just walking around here, and if they are, I'm almost positive they won't be in the mind to help us." David asked.

"We can start with the office, that's bound to have something." George pointed back to the office building with his thumb. "It's as good a place to start as any other."

With a few shrugs, the plan was settled; they headed back to the office building. Upon climbing the few steps to the entrance of the office building, Cindy slowed her pace, unwilling to experiment with her balance again. She tested the door, twisting the knob and applying pressure to the door. With a soft _click_, the door squeaked open to reveal an almost perfectly kempt office. Papers were still in stacks, in bins along the desk, a few strayed from the pack, but other than that, it was the neatest room they had seen since the beginning of the night.

George walked in, flabbergasted that the room was untouched. If only for that reason, he had a false sense of security that was quickly abated as a man in a zoo uniform flew out from behind a wall next to a small-multicolored artwork. With a pistol in hand, the man let off a single round, the bullet shooting wide, missing David by a few feet. Everyone dropped down, putting their hands over their heads.

Almost in unison, the four survivors screamed for him to stop firing. The melody of cries of desist confused the man enough to stall him from firing off another round. He took a second look at the motley group in front of him and took a step back.

"You're not zombies…" His voice trailed off, the realization flooding into him. "I'm so sorry!"

He put the pistol down on the table and stepped towards them, searching George --who was the closest to him-- for any wounds. George threw off the man's hands and backed up a step. The man looked desperate, almost sickly.

"I'm so sorry, I thought you might be one of them," He pointed towards the window, indicating outside of the building. "They hadn't come into the office yet, but I knew it was only a matter of time."

"You didn't think about locking the doors?" George asked, still a bit upset about being shot at.

"Well then, how would anyone else come in who needs help?" The man cocked his head to the side and gave George a look like George was stupid.

"Yeah, so much for that." George stifled a mocking chuckle and moved away from the man.

David stepped forward, pushing past George as he moved back towards the door. "So, what exactly happened here?"

The man dry washed his hands, debating something silently to himself. When he didn't answer, David helped him to decide. "What's wrong, you just tried to kill us and now you're finding it hard to talk?"

"No-No, that's not it, it's just there are some things I'm not supposed to talk about, it's part of my job description."

"What?" David stared dumbly at the man, his voice shaky with pent up annoyance and frustration. "Don't you see what's going on out there? Don't you think this goes beyond your 'job description'?" David made some air quotes with his index and middle fingers as he spoke the words. The man scratched the back of his head, looking at each of them in turn.

"I…I suppose, but you don't know these people."

"Oh, we've become intimately acquainted over the past few hours." George said, folding his arms. "That is of course if you're referring to Umbrella."

"You know?" The man looked like he wanted to shove a pillow in George's mouth just to silence him at the mere mention of Umbrella. He began to wring his hat in his hands as he reconsidered what he was going to tell them.

"Partially, we know they are responsible for this, but beyond that we're pretty much at a lose." David jumped in, stopping George from revealing anymore of what they knew. He shared a look with George, silently asking him to stop talking. George made no action to return the gesture, but understood why he wanted him to be quiet. If this man was afraid to utter the name Umbrella, then revealing what they knew might just get them killed in certain circles. It was safer to just play dumb than to seem smart to the wrong people. George plopped down in a nearby sofa, folding his arms across his chest.

"Well, yes Umbrella is responsible for this." The man seemed to be relieved just to say those words, like a huge weight was lifted from his chest. "They were…'borrowing' some animals from the zoo." He rolled his hand as he spoke. "Just some rare African frogs and other amphibians, nothing too dangerous. Since they were the biggest benefactors of the zoo, we didn't complain. What's a few missing animals? Right? I mean, the other option was closing down. You know, the zoo was going under, so we didn't really have a choice."

David held up a hand, stopping him from continuing to convey the idea that they had no choice. The man nodded and continued. "Well, that's really all that we knew. I was asked to keep the missing animals from the public, not like anyone cared anyway."

The man paused to take a breath and stare out of the window for a few moments before talking again. "Well, they started to take more and more, soon they were taking other animals as well, the more noticeable ones: alligators and such. That was too much, people would've started to notice, and I couldn't very well tell them that Gracie, the alligator, was at the veterinarian's office for too long. So, I tried to talk to them, tell them that we couldn't do this anymore, but before I could tell them anything, the animals started to get sick. All of them."

The man's face glazed over at a memory. "B…Bruce, the janitor was cleaning the elephant's cage one day, it had been sick and so, was producing more…waste than usual. He wasn't too happy about having to clean the cage of a sick elephant. Well, Oscar didn't like that Bruce was in the cage either, but normally, Oscar doesn't pay him any mind. A few days ago though, Oscar went crazy. He chased Bruce around the cage, making a whole lot of noise in the process. We couldn't get there fast enough. When we got there, Bruce was trapped in a corner, staring at the business end of Oscar's tusks."

The man paused for a second, trying to recompose himself. After a few silent seconds, he started again. "Bruce didn't have a chance. Oscar just…well he just impaled him. Blood…blood everywhere. I couldn't get the stains out…" He started to scrub the invisible bloodstains on his clean uniform. David caught his arm, knocking him back into reality. "S…sorry. Ever since then, the animals have been violent, deadly. Their usually placid nature switched with a violent, evil, hungry need. It wasn't until the day after Bruce's death that it started to happen to the people too."

"What do you mean? The people were violent too?" George asked, his medical side taking over again.

"Sort of, they were more, cranky than anything. Everyone was sick, so we stayed away from the animals. We figured that since it was more-or-less like what happened to the animals that we didn't want to get near it."

"But that's impossible; the physiological differences between humans and animals would discount that idea." George sat up straighter in the couch. "There's no way that something this wide spread could affect both animals and humans."

The man looked at George with a murderous scowl. "I'm not sure Bruce would agree with you."

George caught sight of the man's reaction and held his tongue.

"Anyway," The man put his hat back on again, placing his emotions in a box with it. "The animals went crazy yesterday when Gracie came back; today they just took over the place, killing anyone in sight. I ran in here as soon as I could."

"That's everything?" David was incredulous; he doubted the man was telling them everything. He slipped a thumb into his work belt and leaned back a little, evaluating the man on some scale George couldn't fathom. The man gave David a nod, David returned with only a scowl. A few moments later, David's expression softened and he pressed the man further with a question. "What's your name?"

"Oh, I'm sorry I guess I didn't introduce myself really." The man put his hand out toward David. "My name's Eric, I'm a handler here."

David stared at the hand, and then in spite of his reservations, shook Eric's hand. Eric went around and shook everyone's hands before returning to his spot across from them. "So, what brings you all to the zoo? Don't you think that it's a bit dangerous to wander around here?"

"We're actually on our way out, but the gate on the tracks is down, we need to open it." Cindy spoke up for the first time since Eric shot at them. "Do you think you can open it?"

Eric considered for a moment and then spoke again. "Sorry, no I only saw them open it once in the year I've been here, and they never showed me how to operate it."

Cindy was silent for a short while before getting an idea again. "Do you know who might be able to open it? Maybe they're still here hiding like you."

"Uh…yeah, the only person I could think of would be…Bruce." Eric rubbed the back of his head as if to apologize for his failure to provide anyone who could help.

"Well, damn, can you at least help us find some sorta lion key thing?" Mark's voice permeated the thick silence hanging low in the room. Eric's head shot up at the mention.

"I'm glad you asked, that I might be able to help you with."


	35. Chapter 35

Eric pulled his hat off and wrung it between his hands, looking at the office, and thinking. The sculpture was blocking an entrance to a hallway beyond the small waiting room where they stood. Along the sculpture was a tiny fenced off area, with the wooden, picketed, door hanging open, still swaying from where Eric had pushed it open. Beyond the fence, a small slide was propped against the wall. George deduced that the area was a playpen for the worker's children who had come with their parents to work. Although, other than the slide, nothing denoted a child's presence in the unusually well kept office.

George wandered over to the receptionist's desk in the corner of the room opposite the playpen. On the desk, a few papers were pushed off to the side, orders for more animal food broken down into sections for each animal. Apparently, each animal had a specific diet varied for their individual medical conditions, or weight loss regimens. George flipped through the papers, reading only half heartedly, while waiting for Eric to think of wherever he saw the key at.

"I think it was in the far office, just through those doors there," Eric pointed to a set of doors behind the receptionist's desk. "They go into another office, which leads to the boss' office."

Eric passed a hand through his hair, trying mentally to confirm his assumptions. With a nod, he walked over to the door and pulled on the handle. A thud echoed back as the door moved minutely stopping almost as soon as he pulled. Locked.

"All right, we'll have to go around." Eric walked around the counter, moving past the sculpture and going through the fenced off area, disappeared behind the wall. After a few moments of confused silence, he called out again. "Over here, the door's unlocked."

David was the first to react; he looked at the others and then proceeded through the gate, following it around to the hallway beyond. George motioned for the other two to go first before walking through the gate himself. The hallway beyond was the other side of the office's coin. Trash littered the floor; objects were cast around haphazardly, owing to much of the hallway's cluttered, confined feeling. George stepped over an overturned office chair, trying not to trip. As he navigated around the debris, the door revealed the office in the next room. Again, the office seemed pristine, as if Eric never touched it.

"I remember that the owner of the zoo would keep the keys in here somewhere, but I'm not too sure where he would have put anything. He was a real secretive guy; one of those 'hide everything or someone will steal it' types. I'm ninety percent sure he hid his money under his mattress." Eric rubbed his forehead with the brim of his hat as he looked at the room. "I've never actually been in here. It feels weird you know?"

George and the others ignored the question and began rummaging around the room. The owner was probably long dead, and even if he wasn't, they didn't have the time or the patience to deal with another crazed lunatic. George tore through a drawer on the side of the desk, throwing pencils and pens onto the floor. Finding nothing of value, George pulled the drawer out of the desk and turned it over so that the last few scraps of paper fell softly onto the pile of writing utensils.

"Now, come on, there's no need to do that." Eric protested. He started to walk around the desk but stopped when George shot him a look. "I don't know who you people are, but this is a man's personal property, doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"Not at the moment." Mark said, pushing a filing cabinet away from the wall to check for any hidden compartments. "If you haven't looked around lately, people are dyin'. There's no time to be lookin' out for your personal belongin's."

"I guess you're right, besides I've never really liked the man in the first place." Eric walked over to the desk. "He always annoyed me with these stupid raccoon statues." Eric placed his hand on the statue of the raccoon on the desk and pushed. When the statue didn't move, he pushed harder, but still it did not move. "What the hell?"

"Hold on." George stood up from behind the desk and walked over to the statue. "Something's wrong with this."

Cindy walked up next to him and stared at the statue. "It's a Mr. Raccoon statue; they're all over the zoo. It's the official mascot of the zoo, but this one looks a bit funny to me." She tentatively touched the top of the raccoon's head. Her eye brows knit down in consternation as she worked something underneath the faux fur. With a click, an LCD screen on the pedestal underneath the raccoon lit up displaying a large number four.

"What do you think that means?" David asked, leaning over George's shoulder to look at the statue.

"Well, there feels like there's a slot here too, maybe we have to insert something—or four something's really." Cindy stood up and rubbed her forehead with the back of her wrist as she considered what they had just found. Her face drooped, understanding washed over her face. "We have to find four things the size of a half-dollar coin within this zoo."

"That's if they're here." David corrected. Cindy walked over to the wall and flopped down in one of the chairs, suddenly overwhelmed with the weight of the discovery.

"Shit!" David kicked the desk and ran a hand through his hair. "How the hell are we supposed to get out of here with all this shit in our way?" David cursed and growled, walking over to a nearby statue. "Does anyone even know what these things look like?"

Eric half raised his hand, half coughed. "I…uh, might know something. The director used to have this coin type thing that he'd always carry around. It was sort of his thing, you know? But anyway, it had the raccoon's face on it; it'd be about that size you know?"

George pushed himself off the desk. "Do you know where any of these might be?"

"Yes and no."

"Yes and no?" David asked, barely concealing his rising anger. "How the hell can you know and not know where they are."

Eric put his hand out in front of him as if he were trying to halt David's anger. "What I mean is that I have some sort of idea that might help us. The director loved certain sections of the zoo. I'm sure if we look there, we might find some of these coins."

"You know these specific areas?" George asked, stepping forward away from the desk. Eric thought for a second and nodded that he did.

"They could be at a few places I know about." When he saw David's disgruntled look he continued. "Well, there's the Terrarium, the Lion's Dens, Elephant Cage, and this office. Those are the four places that I think he might hide them."

"Think?" David's voice rose.

"Well, what the hell else can you expect? I'm not him, I can't be expected to know his mind exactly, and I can only tell you where I think he might have hid the coins. Cut me some slack here, okay?"

George figured that Eric was pushed slightly beyond his tolerance level of David's annoyance and made a mental note to be more careful with him in the future. "He's right David, we can't expect him to be the director, but I do hope that you know more than just those places Eric."

"Don't worry, I know of more places around the zoo, but those are where I'd put money on the coins being."

"Good enough for me." Mark pushed off from the wall he was leaning on and clapped Eric on the back. "Why don't we get to it then?"

The door slammed closed behind them as they stepped down the stairs quickly, hoping to get out of the zoo as fast as possible. Cindy was the first to realize the rest of the problem at hand. She stopped and looked around at the zoo. Piles of rubble littered the chaotic streets where order and peace once reigned.

"I think we need to rethink our strategy." She stated absent-mindedly, already trying to think of a solution instead of the problem. George looked at where she was staring and caught her meaning immediately.

"You're right; we can't even hope to find something in all of this debris. Are you sure that you can still find the coins?"

Eric shrugged, "I never really was sure to begin with. I said that I _might_ know where we could start looking, but honestly, I don't think the ruins of the zoo are our biggest problem. The director loved to hide things with clever puzzles and riddles. I'm more worried about what hoops we're going to have to jump through in order to get the coins."

George frowned, if he was right, then the coins' hiding places were probably spared the bulk of the destruction, but that still left the matter of figuring out the puzzles and damned contraptions that the director put in place to keep wondering eyes from finding his precious coins. "Alright, just tell us where the first place might be." George said as he rolled his wrist as if to coax the response out faster.

"Well-"

Before Eric could answer, Kevin came rushing around the corner. His face was the epitome of fear as he stumbled momentarily, trying to push himself faster. A few seconds later, Alyssa, Yoko and Jim rounded the corner, moving nearly as fast as Kevin. David was the first one to notice the reverberating thuds. George could feel it resounding in his chest, shaking his very core.

Bits of concrete and mortar exploded into a dazzling shower of destruction. Behind the smoke and debris, Grant's tusks were the first thing George saw as the four ton monstrosity bared down upon them. Kevin's mouth moved, but George couldn't hear what he was saying. He didn't need to hear Kevin to understand what he was saying; spinning on his heel, George pushed Cindy towards the nearest door. Despite the massive amount of adrenaline coursing through his veins, George tried to keep his head cool and collected, making sure Cindy stayed with him as he ripped the nearly concealed door open.

With a cursory shove, George got Cindy through the door and remained to usher the others through as well. When Jim ran through the make shift check point, George followed, slamming the door closed behind him to create the fleeting idea of safety. For a second all was quiet, the rumbling had subsided as Grant slowed his stampede, probably confused as to where they had gone. No one made a sound, but they tried to get as far away from the giant faux fence as possible, while remaining as silent as possible. George felt Cindy's hand melt into his own as she began to tug on his arm to get him to move. He hadn't realized that he was frozen in place until then.

Reality slammed down hard on his consciousness as George sluggishly spun with the force of Cindy's pull. His legs began to stumble back to life in short spurts, following Cindy even when his head refused to move from the now violently vibrating fence. "George, come on!" Cindy's voice called to him. It was like being shocked back to life with a defibrillator.

With a sudden gasp, George turned back to Cindy as the door behind them exploded open, smashing the torn pieces of fake doors into the concrete walls adjacent to them. Shaking his head, George started to sprint as fast as his exhausted legs would carry him. He could feel every hurt and every bruise he had suffered throughout the night. Groaning, he pushed on even as the ghost of the dislocation threatened to force him to stop running. Adrenaline was the only thing keeping him moving, and despite the considerable amount of motivation to keep moving, his legs were going to give out within a few minutes. There was no way he could keep going unless he had a chance to rest.

Kevin made a hard left, sliding as he came to a brief stop to change direction. George was able to see Kevin rip open a set of small double doors as he rounded the corner as well. Running through in a rough single file, Cindy was the last through and slammed the doors closed. These doors seemed to be connected to a fence that looked like it was somewhat sturdier than the other doors, but still didn't look to be strong enough to cage in Grant.

"What are we going to do?" Alyssa shouted, still panting from the unexpected exertion. "We can't keep running."

As if to make her point, the doors shuttered as Grant slammed into them. Two ivory tusks pierced right through the wood, about five feet above George's head. He stumbled backwards, falling down as he tried to get away. David helped him to his feet and subconsciously dusted his jacket off. It looked as if Grant was having a tough time freeing himself from the doors, but he was also bending and breaking the wood in an attempt to rip the door in two.

"Hey, look at this." Mark said from somewhere behind them. George turned to see him standing in a small clearing. It had an uncanny design made of a yellow circle with a blue cross within its borders that connected with the circle at the ends and was lacking the middle where the two lines would have met. Touching the cross at each of the four limbs' midpoints, a smaller red circle was drawn; lastly what looked like an image of a globe was printed inside where the cross would have connected. "This looks like some sort of cage."

Mark pointed to what, until now, none of the other survivors had seen. Eric cleared his throat as he walked towards where Mark stood. "It's sort of a cage; it keeps some of the animals inside while the families sit up in the observation decks over in the stands and watch the animals put on their performances. I'm not sure if it would hold Grant though."

"Was it built to withstand an elephant?" George asked, suddenly formulating a plan.

"Well, it had to pass regulations, but it _might_ hold him. I can't give you a definite answer; we never really had a rampaging mutated elephant bent on destroying and murdering everything in its path on the loose."

"Point taken, but it had to be designed to take any punishment any animal in this zoo could give and keep standing right?" George touched the cold, rigid metal of the open gate.

"Yeah, we passed inspection a few months ago. What's the point?"

"We can trap him in here and we'll be safe on the outside as long as we don't go in there." George thought for a second before finding a problem with his own logic. "Is there any way to control these gates remotely?"

Eric opened his mouth to answer, but stopped and considered for a moment. "Yeah, actually I think there is a lever or something for it in the observation deck up there." He pointed to a long hallway-like structure above where Mark was standing.

"Hey, there's a ladder here!" Mark shouted to everyone else as he stepped up a few rungs to prove his statement.

The door was beginning to give way under the extreme barrage of attacks from Grant. They didn't have much time to think. George ran into the cage with the others, ushering everyone up the ladder one at a time. With only Cindy and he left, George pushed her up onto the ladder and began climbing up after her. By the time he was halfway up the ladder, the door slammed open with the familiar crack that the other doors resounded. Grant's footfalls echoed in the spacious cage, reverberating in George's chest. He only had a few more feet to climb, but Grant was approaching quickly. With each rung that he climbed, Grant got closer. It was a race to see whether or not George would be impaled for in front of the others.

With a loud grunt, George threw himself onto the platform above him. Just as he swung his legs over, Grant crashed into the ladder, severing the only tie the cage had to the platform. "Quickly, throw the switch!" Kevin screamed at Eric, who fumbled around with the controls, trying to find the right switch. After a few seconds, Grant began looking at the platform above him, trying to figure a way to get the survivors down. His cognitive abilities may have been lacking, but given enough time, even he would start to look outside of the cage. Eric had to hurry or else they may have to continuously worry about Grant.

"Goddamnit, hurry!" George was still on his belly, watching Grant look away from the platform and venture further away from the platform. He was starting to look at the area around himself, searching for any of the doors he could smash. Lights began to flicker and dance as Eric decided to press and flick whatever he could find to try and get the gates closed.

"There!" Eric screamed as the last valve he rotated initiated the closing of the gates. Grant turned when the gates made a loud metallic screech. It almost sounded like they hadn't been used in a while. He moved like he was going to try and run for the exit before the gates closed.

"Can't these go any faster?" David screamed, trying to turn the valve faster. It didn't work; they were automated. "Shit, shit, shit!"

Grant was going to make it out before the gates had a chance to close. All of their efforts were going to be in vain and their lives that much more in danger with Grant roaming around. Grant began to move faster. Finally realizing the importance of what was going on. The whole area shook when his gait shifted and quickened.

Mere heartbeats before Grant crashed through the tiny opening; the gates snapped shut and locked. There was a deafening crash as the metal was tested when Grant couldn't stop in time. Thankfully, the gates still stood, even when Grant backed up and smashed into the gates again.

It seemed as if they had finally caged him. Now that he was out of the way, they had a chance to actually find the coins in peace. Or at least whatever peace they could get.


	36. Chapter 36

George lay motionless on his stomach, panting for what seemed hours. His leg throbbed and he was having trouble catching his breath. He found himself spinning into uncontrollable coughing fits, which left his throat sore and raw. Laying his head down against the wooden floor of the raised observation room, George tried to concentrate on something other than the pain in his chest.

It was then that he got his first good look at the now zombified Oscar. The first thing he noticed was the hanging entrails that swung with each breath Oscar took. Bloody handprints from where the zombies tore at Oscars exposed belly were stamped around the entrance wounds. George guessed that Oscar, being as large as he was, couldn't stop the smaller animals from trying to eat him when everything around him went to hell. It almost made George feel sorry for the beast that was now trying to kill him.

With that thought, George subconsciously looked up at Oscar's chosen weapons: his tusks. The gnarled remains of what were once well maintained ivory weapons didn't come about from any transformation from the virus, but from misuse. When he first saw the tusks, George thought that the virus had taken its toll, but instead he now knew that they were really just splintered and deformed from the constant destruction of zoo property.

Oscar snorted and turned around, once again facing the fence, trying to figure a way around the problem. After a few seconds of thinking and getting steadily frustrated, Oscar resumed his barrage on the gate. The loud banging knocking them all out of their collective stupor; Kevin coughed.

"Well, we better get out of here before that noise attracts any of the other infected." Kevin's voice was shaky but he tried to cover it up by making his voice deeper than it needed to be. Cindy held her hand out to help George up; he took it graciously but kept most of his weight to himself as he hoisted his nearly exhausted body up to his feet. The short rest he had on the train was almost completely used up already and they still had to find the coins for the mechanism in the director's office.

With everything seeming to collapse after what seemed the end of their worries, George began to feel as if they would never make it out alive. Perhaps it was the sheer exhaustion intoxicating his will to survive or the countless near death experiences –which he had been able to avoid up until this night–but George's will power was waning quickly. A depression that could cost him his life was threatening to overtake him. However, when he stood up and looked into Cindy's face he smiled, trying to belie his true emotions. Thankfully she returned the smile, he wasn't sure if he could withstand anything else from her.

Using the control panel to help him catch his breath, George panted while cursing the fact that he hadn't gone to the gym more often. David snorted slightly and gave some remark that George didn't hear. Ultimately, it seemed that they were all just keeping each other going. None of them wanted to show any weakness nor did they want to show any of the stress that was about to make them all crack. After a bit of nervous, self-conscious laughter, Kevin cleared his throat and opened the door to the rest of the raised platform. Outside, George could see that a set of stairs connected to the ground below just beyond the cage. He mustered up whatever strength he could and started for the door.

Before they could make it to the door, a bright blue, yellow and red blur shot through the opening from the stairs. A disheveled bird perched itself on a set of boxes that were piled up in a misshapen pillar. It let out a high-pitched caw that sounded reminiscent of the crows. George started to take off his jacket, but realized that the fabric wouldn't hold together with a bird that size. He wondered why it hadn't attacked yet, from his right he could see that Kevin was reaching for his pistol. The bird squawked loudly, opening it beak and snapping in the direction of his hand. Globs of drool and blood dripped continuously from the powerful mandibles. Pus filled liquid secreted from the bird's tear ducts, causing its eyes to gloss over slightly, giving the illusion that the bird had a form of cataracts. When Kevin had replaced the pistol to its holster, the bird stopped squawking and began to ruffle its feathers. When any of them would move, it stopped pecking at itself and watched them with one of its eyes. The bird never moved its head as it watched them; instead the eye that was monitoring them would swivel in its socket, moving between each of them just underneath a shelf like bone protruding from its forehead.

"Well, what now?" Alyssa asked curtly. George cast a wary glance in David's direction; he could see that the plumber already had his hand on the pistol in his tool belt. He looked over to Kevin, who still had his hand on his pistol as well. If George was fast, he could distract the bird enough for David or Kevin to get a shot off. The only problem he could see is if they didn't realize what he was doing.

George began to whisper, straining his voice to keep it low so the bird wouldn't be alerted and yet loud enough that they would hear. "Get ready to sh-"

Before he finished speaking, the bird's head shot in George's direction, no longer fluffing its feathers, the bird kept its eyes trained on George. They weren't the eyes of an annoyed bird, but more the eyes of a predator watching its prey. George realized that it was now or never, the bird was going to stay in their way until it attacked. He just wanted it to be on his terms and not the bird's. Shifting his weight, George's hand found its way into his messenger bag, gripping his own pistol. As he took hold of his pistol, the bird took flight.

Time seemed to slow for him, he could see the bird diving in his direction, but he could also see Kevin and David both pulling up their guns, hoping to get to the bird before it got to George. Ever so slowly, George fell backwards, hoping to evade the bird's attack as well as the gunshots. Instinctively, George threw it arm in front of him, trying to cover his face from the bird.

Before anyone could do anything, the bird latched onto George's arm. Pain spread through his arm like an electrical shock. Wings flapped as the bird screeched and bit at George's arm. Blood cascaded freely down his arm as George tried to pry the bird from his arm, but the bird had a vice-like grip on his forearm, preventing him from pushing it off. David and Kevin stood helplessly over him with their pistols trained on the bird, but since George was in the way, they wouldn't risk the chance of shooting him. Hands were flying in front of his face as the others tried to help him extricate the bird from his arm.

Grunting, George pushed them away and took his own pistol in his unhindered hand. Putting the pistol against the bird's head, he squeezed the trigger. A single gunshot rang in the small hallway. Bits of tiny brain matter exploded through the fresh hold in the bird's cranium, raining down on George's face. Quickly, he wiped at his face, smearing the gore with his sleeve in an attempt to wash his face off. Cautiously, George looked at his arm. There was a small puncture in the sleeve of the rain coat, and George could suddenly feel the pain that was blocked off by his mind. Searing stabs of agony ran through his arm up into his shoulder, he knew that the beak had pierced the skin without even looking, but he had to see for himself. Pushing the sleeve up, George saw what he didn't want to see. Blood cascaded down his arm in rivulets, mixing with the sweat on his arm, gathering everything up in a tiny stream along his arm.

Fear unlike any George had ever known suddenly welled up inside of him. He wanted to scream, but chocked it off in his throat, only letting a moan of agony escape. As if instantly aware, George could feel the virus crawling up his arm, ripping through anything in its way. He could feel it snaking its way into his shoulder and into his chest. Wriggling around inside of him like some sort of parasite. Before he knew it, he was panting, unable to catch his breath. If he weren't already on the ground, he would have fallen over.

Somehow Cindy had come to his side; she placed her hand over his forehead. "George, relax, I need you to relax or else you're going to send yourself into a panic attack." George couldn't hear her; he was focusing on the virus threatening to overtake his body. He could feel it moving through his body, finding all of the nooks and crannies inside of him. Unable to do anything he started to breathe harder, the fear was taking him. Quickly, he was spiraling into an abyss he didn't know how to escape; the darkness of his inevitable death flew up around him swallowing him into the belly of his fears.

Unexpectedly, Cindy pulled him close to her; she shushed him like a child. Her chest rose and fell with each breath she took. She began to whisper words to him that he couldn't understand, but he latched onto them nonetheless. He could hear her heart beat rapidly, his breathing almost matching its pace. George listened to her heart as he tried to slow his breathing. His head was becoming cloudy and light, but he fought the feeling, instead concentrating on deciphering Cindy's words. At first it was difficult to shut out the feeling of total abandonment, but George persevered, navigating the labyrinth of his mind until he came to the realization that there was still time. He thought about David and Mark, about how they too were infected and yet they were still among the living.

But for how long?

Long enough he thought to himself. Slowly, George began to get control of his breathing. He mentally shrugged off the paralyzing fear, latching on instead to the hope he finally saw. If they could find a cure then he would be able to survive. If David and Mark could survive this long, then he could too. The world suddenly started to seem brighter to George.

"It's okay George, we'll find a cure…we'll find a cure." Cindy's words were clear to him now. He could hear the sadness in her voice, seeping through when she spoke. He felt something wet hit the side of his forehead and roll down the side of his face, falling onto his coat from his chin. George wrapped an arm around Cindy's waist, giving her a gentle squeeze of thanks before pulling himself away reluctantly.

"Thank you Cindy, I don't know what happened there, I just…saw the only outcome of this as my death and I shouldn't have. I know we'll find a cure," He looked at David and Mark "We have to."

She gave him a tight lipped smile and pulled out some gauze from George's bag. "We'd better wrap up that arm though." As Cindy went about wrapping up his bleeding arm, Kevin admonished him for doing something reckless. When Cindy finished wrapping his arm, George looked at Kevin and the others.

"I guess we'd better be off then." George suggested adding a smile to show them that he no longer was lost to them. Alyssa was the first to start the decent further into the zoo. The narrow set of stairs was made of concrete which made each step audible throughout the surrounding area. Moans echoed in response to their noisy journey. George idly readjusted the bag on his back in order to stop himself from readjusting the fresh bandage on his arm that was irritating his skin.

At the bottom of the stairs, the path branched off into two different directions. Off to the left, it circled back around to where George hoped was the viewing area in front of Oscar's new cage. Eric seemed to be leading them off to the right thankfully, but George was never sure if they were ever leaving the frying pan and jumping head first into a blazing bonfire. He hoped that they were going someplace safer this time, but he refused to hold any hope of that until they were out of this wretched city and into a more serene environment.

Cautiously, Eric pulled the large wooden door open in two labored pulls as the bottom of the door remained in its place while the rest acquiesced to Eric's strength. With the door open, he peered through allowing only his eyes to peek out from behind the door. Whatever he saw or didn't see made him sigh in relief and pull the door open the rest of the way and motioned the others to follow him as he went through into the darkness beyond.

Light seemed to gather in only a few places in this desolate looking themed attraction. Plants of all nationalities spawned all along the walls and in some areas just beyond what looked like a poorly lit stairwell. Little lights hung just above posters, illuminating the posters and a small portion of the walls. Each poster looked to be of a different creature in the park, ranging from exotic insects to the native birds of the city. George gaped in wide-eyed astonishment. The sheer number of creatures that were shown in these posters would have to be in the zoo. If they all reacted the way Oscar reacted to the infection, then they might be in for more trouble than they bargained for.

Eric stepped in front of the survivors, trying to address them all. "This is where I think the first coin might be hidden."

"Coin?" Yoko asked before she realized that she spoke aloud. She covered her mouth and looked at the others upon realizing.

"Yeah, apparently we need some sort of coins in order to get out of here. It's all some sorta Umbrella contraption." Mark quickly filled the others in. Knowing grumbles were the only response.

When no one else said anything Eric continued. "We need to look for anything out of the ordinary, anything that might seem like it doesn't belong. Look for a switch that is alone and away from a control panel or a hidden lever or something."

David put his hands on his hips. "So you mean to tell us that you don't actually know how to find these coins?"

Eric's brows drew down. "I thought that was clear by me not just getting them for you." David started to speak, obviously angry by Eric's flippant tone, but Alyssa put a hand on his shoulder.

"Is there anything you could tell us that might let us know which one to look for? This zoo is chock full of loose knobs, switches and levers." Alyssa sounded more level-headed than George remembered. He thought that it might just be the reporter in her coming out.

"I wish I did, I'm sorry but I just know that this is one of the areas that the director frequented the most." Alyssa nodded, a frown growing across her face, she stroked her chin in thought as she backed away from David.

"Is there anything we can do about the lighting?" Kevin asked pointing to one of the lampposts. The light above them flickered as if suddenly beckoned by its mention. Eric shook his head.

"Even if I worked in this area, I only tended to the animals; I wouldn't have touched the electrical things. So, I couldn't tell you the first thing you'd need to know to fix them up so they stay on."

George inwardly groaned; it was bad enough that they had crazed animals attacking them from all angles, but to try and find a way to locate a coin that may or may not even be in the area, but to do it with poor lighting was not only nearly impossible, but recklessly dangerous as well. They weren't sure if the area was devoid of zombies, any one of those undead monstrosities could be hiding behind a corner or in some of the grass and they wouldn't know it until it bit them.

Regardless of their current predicament, they weren't going to get anywhere unless they found these coins, like it or not they had no choice in the matter. Eric turned from them and started his search among some of the posters along the wall. Before they could even start to search, Eric stopped them once more.

"Oh, be careful around some of these plants, they secreted a poisonous toxin when they were unaffected by whatever it was that happened here. It was only toxic to the insects that tried to eat them, but God knows what it could do now. So, if you see any plant that looks odd, just steer clear of them until I give the okay, alright?"

When he received a nod from everyone, he went back to his search. _Great, just one more thing to worry about in this God forsaken place_ George thought to himself. Progress was slower than he had expected as he found himself feeling the walls for any of the objects Eric had listed. The whole thing seemed ludicrous to him as if the night's events were just registering to him. He found himself cursing the creators of the puzzles and secret compartments that they had to search for.

The search went on for a few more minutes until they heard Jim saying something. George abandoned the walls and went through the pathway between the posters and a little dead-end walkway that terminated into a large plant that blocked the last few feet of the passageway. As he continued around the path, George walked into where Jim stood. Plants lined the edges of the little outside garden; a square walkway was in the center which allowed the guests an uninhibited look at all of the exotic plants and insects. Jim stood holding what looked like a yellowish piece of metal in the darkness.

"Is this what you're looking for?" He asked, holding the coin out to Eric's impatient hands. Eric snatched the coin and gave it a quick look over, holding it close to his eyes and moving back and forth to catch a small sliver of light. With a nod Eric put the coin in his pocket.

"Yes, that's it; I guess we didn't need to look so hard in here after all." Eric's voice betrayed his surprise, but George wasn't so sure about what he had said. Finding the coin was a relatively simple matter, something so important wasn't going to be just lying around. "I guess the director had gone through this area when he was trying to escape. He must've dropped the coin or something."

Skeptical eyes peered back at Eric from every member of the survivors, they had been through enough this night to not just accept anything that comes too easy to them. No one said anything though, silently hoping that it really was that simple and dry cut. "Only three more then."

"So, we have to go to the elephant's cage and the lion's den next?" Mark asked Eric as Eric slipped the coin into one of his many pockets. Eric gave a nod.

"The only problem is that they are on opposite ends of the zoo, we'd have better chances if we split up." Eric looked at David and George.

"So…are the lions still here?" Kevin asked, hoping to get an answer that wasn't potentially lethal.

"I really can't tell, I haven't seen them or heard them, but it would be difficult for them to get out of here." Eric shrugged in apology that he couldn't give a definitive answer. Kevin sighed and stroked his chin.

"Alright, but why can't we just stick together."

Eric shook his head. "We _can_ stick together, that's up to you, but personally I'd like to get out of here as quick as possible."

Kevin groaned his understanding. "I think we should split up, the faster we get out of here, the faster we're back on the train and getting the hell out of this place. I'll volunteer to go to the lion's den."

As much as George wanted to go to the elephant's cage, he felt like he shouldn't say anything. Kevin waited a few seconds for anyone willing to come forward and join him, when no one did he asked instead.

"Anyone going to come with me?" He pleaded.

"Look, it's nothing against you, but that sounds like a death sentence." David reasoned with him.

"That may be, but we have to do this don't we?" Alyssa almost sighed in frustration and walked up next to Kevin.

Two people were willing to risk dying just to get out of here, why shouldn't George?

"I better go too, just in case someone gets hurt, you'd need someone who can help." George said as he walked up to the group forming a few feet away. Cindy began to follow, but Jim stopped her.

"Hey, wait. If George is going with that group in case someone gets hurt, then shouldn't the other group take the only other person who knows something about medicine?" He sounded annoyed that Cindy might take away his only chance at medical attention.

"That sounds logical to me." Yoko chimed in. Cindy's eyes caught George's gaze, silently she pleaded to go with him, but she eventually saw the practicality in their reasoning. Cindy stepped a few feet away from George and the other group to start the group going for the elephant's cage. George was inwardly relieved. He had been hoping that Cindy wouldn't go with him to the lion's den. George was glad she wouldn't be in anymore danger than she needed to be.

Yoko was the last person to decide to join in for the lion's den. The other five people shuffled towards Cindy, bidding everyone a goodbye and good luck. George shared one last look with Cindy as the others walked off into a different direction, Eric catching up with them after parting instruction on how to get to the lion's den to Kevin.

The world seemed darker to George for some reason. He knew he should be happy that Cindy wasn't going to what looked like certain death, but he missed her presence. Something about her manner helped alleviate the fear that threatened to choke him almost constantly. Sighing, he fell in line with the group as they made their way to the door closest to them.


	37. Chapter 37

George had to stop and get acclimated to the rapid change in the atmosphere. A sudden blast of humidity caught his breath in his throat. The ground became saturated and sticky with the water that was lapping up at his feet. Somewhere off in the distance, water sloshed and clapped as unseen objects dropped into a body of water George couldn't see.

George was always apprehensive when faced with large bodies of water that he couldn't see through, but his normal hesitancy was augmented by the night's events, he didn't want to go near anything that would require him to swim. He hoped that it was merely a pond off to the side that they would walk by, but somehow he knew otherwise. Everything was always going to be more difficult than it needed to be until he got out of this cursed city.

The darkness seemed to blanket them for only a few short paces as small porch light-like lanterns hung on destroyed poles. Each light cast a small pool of light underneath, causing an eerily lit pathway with only interspersed threads of shadows between the tightly clustered lights. George's eyes had to adjust to the new brightness for only a few seconds, but as soon as they did he wished that he could go back and hide in the darkness.

Before the small group, a large swamp stretched out to all of the ends of the large area. From wall to wall water touched with only a few specks of dry land dotting the otherwise all encompassing swamp. Water bubbled and frothed in areas where small bugs moved and danced on the surface, but quickly escaped from whatever danger they perceived. George wasn't so sure he too could feel some sort of ominous danger underneath the opaque curtain of water. Contrary to George's fears, the area was bathing in a shroud of silence, other than the buzzing of a few annoying bugs not a single thing moved.

An unsettling calm came over George; he wasn't sure why but the place exuded peace. For some reason he felt at ease and on edge all at the same time, as if something was lurking in the minuscule shadows, yet he could see nothing was there. Kevin's pistol was in his hand as he snaked around the broken architecture and looked through windows with the panes smashed in, causing glass to litter the ground where he gingerly stepped.

In the alcove of what remained of an old guard's shack, a zombie stood hunched over where the group couldn't see. As they passed by, he lunged for Alyssa, his keys jingling as he fell on top of her. Her short scream was cut off as Kevin knocked the zombie off of her with a single powerful kick. Now on the ground, the zombie scrambled to get back on top of Alyssa, reaching his hand out towards her arm. Kevin kicked the grabbing hand away and shot the zombie once in the forehead.

Only once the zombie was dead did George realize that it was dressed in a zoo keeper's garb. He reached down when he was sure the zombie was long dead and grabbed the keys on his belt, figuring they would come in handy at one point.

As they moved on, it seemed as though with the sound of the cursory struggle, the peaceful atmosphere had changed slightly. He wasn't sure if it was just the fact that he and Alyssa now held their own pistols out in front of them as they walked or if something on another level had changed, but whatever it was George didn't like it. From somewhere in the swampy area, George could feel a pair of eyes on him, but he didn't know where they originated.

Yoko tugged on her backpack strap, pulling it closer to her body as if it were some sort of shield against the creatures in the zoo. In the dim light, George could see Yoko's jaw trembling causing her teeth to clatter in the overwhelming silence; she noticed him looking and realized that her teeth were making more noise than she had anticipated. Quickly, Yoko placed her bottom lip in between her teeth to soften her uncontrollable tick.

George stepped around the roots of an upended tree, skirting as much of the foliage as he could as they progressed further in what he could only describe as the most ominous body of water he had ever seen. A groan escaped his throat before he could cut it off. Kevin turned to him when he heard the noise.

"We just have to be careful around it, we don't know what else has been transformed by whatever the hell is making everyone and every," Kevin gave a cursory glance around the area, George was almost certain that he saw Kevin shudder slightly. "thing insane."

"Wait, did you hear that?" Yoko stopped biting her lip long enough to speak before placing her lip back in her mouth and biting more vigorously.

"Hear what?" Alyssa asked, looking like she wanted to press Yoko further, but also not wanting to make any noise. As if thinking as one, the four stopped moving, stopped talking, and as much as they could even stopped breathing. George heard the soft lulls of the water, the angry bugs buzzing noisily around his head, and he even heard the slow breeze that he had only been able to barely feel moments ago. Subconsciously George swallowed the anxiety he was feeling and brought up his pistol to chest level while still aiming at the sky. His head turned towards the water as he was sure he heard something moving, but then behind him something else shifted. Trees…no, more zombies…no, something else altogether. He was surely going insane, or maybe he was just paranoid, or maybe everything really was alive in this place and they were just in the middle of it all.

"I don't hear anything!" Kevin whispered a shout at Yoko. The poor girl shrugged her shoulders and mumbled what George took as an apology. They were all on edge already; the last thing they needed was to jump at more invented phantoms. God knows they had enough of them to last the rest of their lives.

The wind picked up, producing a high-pitched wail as it passed through the buildings and trees. They crowded together in a tight knot as they approached a mostly destroyed dock that hung broken in two a short distance into the water.

"It looks like we have to cross the water somehow." Kevin stated flatly. It sounded as if even Kevin didn't feel any courage in the face of the unseen. That if anything shook George to his core. He had taken Kevin for the rock in the river of uncertainty that this night had plunged him into. Yet now he looked as afraid as George felt.

"There's no boat though." Alyssa noted, looking around to see if she could prove herself incorrect.

"We'll have to swim then." Kevin suggested, but looked to George, silently pleading that he could think of a better way. George had none that he felt cowardly enough to voice. Kevin gave a disheartened sigh and scratched the back of his head. He gave one last look at the murky water before rolling up his sleeves and placing his pistol in the holster. "I guess I'll go first then."

Kevin knelt down and dragged a hand through the water, causing a few small ripples to form where his hand went. George saw some quick movements in the swampy water farther away. A little voice in the back of his mind told George this was wrong, that they needed to find another way around, but with all of its warnings it gave no suggestion to a better way so he ignored it as just his own fears relaying fabricated urgency. Kevin was crouched on the balls of his feet, bouncing with anxiety, trying to work up the nerve to just dive into the water. He had tested the water enough that anything that wanted to attack him would have done so already, but he looked as if he couldn't get himself into the water.

George considered just diving in himself to get it over with, but decided that just once he wouldn't act without thinking everything through thoroughly. His rash actions had gotten him in trouble more than once already and he figured that he could take a back seat for a little while at least. He reasoned that he deserved some rest at least since he was already infected. With that thought, he brought himself back into the darkness he had narrowly escaped. Just like David and Mark, George was now infected, he could change at any minute, or maybe he could beat the infection, maybe it can't be transmitted by birds. A thousand ifs swirled around in George's mind that he was so caught up that he almost missed the set of eyes staring back at him from within the water. Snapping out of his self pity, George started to raise a cry, but Yoko screamed first.

"Get back Kevin!" She bellowed as a humongous crocodile exploded out from underneath the surface of the water. Kevin dove to the right, narrowly dodging the rows of razor sharp teeth as they ripped into the remaining bit of dock that stuck out from the shore. With a vicious _snap_ the dock broke away under the strain from the crocodile's mouth. Wasting no time, the crocodile threw the remnants of the dock into the water, creating a small man-made island that marred the water's spotless natural surface.

George heard Kevin splashing around in the water off to the side; he hadn't noticed that Kevin jumped in the water. Quickly, the crocodile shifted its attention onto Kevin, ignoring the prey that remained on dry land. Without thinking, George brought his pistol up and began firing, hoping to distract the crocodile enough to let Kevin get back on the shore.

At first, the crocodile took no notice as the bullets missed their mark, but when George steadied his aim and started to pierce the crocodile's unusually thick hide, it stopped moving and turned towards him. George had gotten what he wanted, but now he didn't know what to do. With unexpected agility, the crocodile shot out of the water and tore onto the land, barreling towards George. As quick as he could, George dove to the side, landing sharply on his shoulder as the crocodile's mouth slammed shut where he had just been moments ago. The crocodile used its momentum to spin and serpentine its way back to facing George. He didn't even have time to get up as it launched another angry attack. He rolled as fast as he could out of the way.

"Shoot it God damnit!" He found himself screaming without realizing. Alyssa shut her mouth and took careful aim at the animal, squeezing the trigger when she had her pistol trained where she wanted it. She didn't want to hit George or waste any precious ammo she had. The crocodile let out an apoplectic growl and turned to her. For a moment it hesitated, eyeing George up again before it leapt at Alyssa.

George saw her roll out of the way as he scrambled to his feet, her feet flailing in the air, trying to right herself, but failing to. He staggered to his feet, fighting the queasy sensation that was filling his head. His hands were unsteady at first but George quickly schooled himself, forcing his hands to stop shaking. Taking a deep breath, George held it in as the green blur snapped and tore at Alyssa as she herself rolled away from its attacks. George took the shot when he got a clear one, dark viscous blood spurted out in chunks from the crocodile as the shot struck its underbelly.

Another growl signified that he had caused the crocodile enough pain to forgo any further attacks on Alyssa. The crocodile spun with surprising ease, twirling a long sinewy tail that slammed Alyssa to the ground as the animal moved. Alyssa fell with a grunt, smacking against a tree root. George could only spare a moment for concern when she didn't get up before he had to slide behind a tree trunk to dodge the snapping, snarling jaws of the crocodile once more.

It was almost like a dance with the crocodile, it would move only enough to get an attack in as George jumped and dove away from those attacks. The crocodile was biding its time, waiting for George to get tired enough to make a mistake. George did everything possible to avoid making that one mistake, but it was all he could do to avoid certain death.

Alyssa was getting up wearily, shaking her head to clear her vision. Groaning she rolled onto her knees and quickly looked around, fully aware of what was happening again. She called something to George that he couldn't hear as he tripped over his feet getting out of the way of the crocodile's razor sharp teeth. Jaws clapped shut each time the crocodile failed to connect with George's body.

Angrily, Alyssa shouted something again, waving her arms to get George's attention. He stole a glance at her that nearly cost him his arm. George leaped backwards, affording him enough space to bring up the pistol and let off a shot into the crocodile's mouth. It roared painfully as blood spurted out of its mouth in steady streams that stopped moments after they had started. The crocodile's lips parted enough for George to see bloodied teeth facing him in what could only be interpreted as a toothy grin.

"Doing something would be helpful right now!" George shouted as he attempted to shoot once more, but was forced to roll to his right. His movements were getting sluggish and tiresome; the attacks were getting quicker and closer to him than he felt comfortable with. While he was still on the ground, trying to get back on his feet the crocodile turned its head and prepared to lunge at him. George threw his arms up, hoping it bit them instead of his face or anywhere vital but he never had a chance to get his arms in front of his face before a shot rang out and hit the crocodile. The beast recoiled and fell back a few paces shaking its head, letting blood squirt onto the already damp ground. Kevin was helping George to his feet while Yoko sprang into action; she jumped onto the crocodile's back and stabbed it repeatedly in the eyes. Rearing its head, the crocodile attempted to throw her off, but she clung on with one arm while relentlessly stabbing it anywhere she could now that it was blinded. Crying streams of dark, nearly black, blood the crocodile started to slow down and protest less. Yoko reached down below the crocodile's mouth and drove the blade of her knife up into the gullet of the beast. Yanking the blade to the side, she slit the scaly throat in a rough line.

George looked away as the esophagus, arteries, and other innards emptied out onto the ground. When the crocodile finally floundered to a dead stop Yoko rolled off of the animal panting and covered in streaks of blood. Despite not wanting to, George stared at Yoko on the ground. He never thought she could be capable of such violence. She had stayed off to the side for the whole ordeal, he never imagined she would even dare to fire a gun let alone take on an enraged crocodile with only a knife.

"Th…thank you both." George stammered as he helped Yoko to her feet. She dusted her pants off as if nothing had happened, but kept her eyes on the ground away from the corpse next to them. Nodding, she picked the knife off the ground and slipped it into a pocket of her backpack, rubbing her nose as she zipped the compartment back up.

"Let's just hope that that was the only one in there." Alyssa noted, pointing at the crocodile with her pistol. "It looks like we're going to have to swim across."

It was then that George noticed that she was right. Bits of the bridge that once went above the swamp for visitors to look down at the animals now lay in the swamp as debris floating around at odd increments. George grumbled but tucked his pistol back into the messenger bag at his side that was lined to keep water out as best as possible.

Kevin was the first into the water, sliding in with ease after already being drenched. The rest of them were more resistant to entering. Freezing cold water enveloped George's body and forced his clothes to cling to his shivering body. He had to force his teeth shut to prevent them from clattering. Alyssa was repeating something over and over again that George couldn't hear, but he assumed it was an admonition to just make it to the shore not fifty feet away, he himself was saying something much the same.

George pushed his hands out in front of him and kicked his legs, pulling his arms back down to his side once his momentum slowed to keep himself moving through the water. It was the only swimming stroke he was comfortable with, since he hadn't been in the water very often since he was a child. Kevin, on the other hand, was pulling himself violently forward in the water, clearing the distance to the other shore in little over two minutes. He stood on the other end of the swamp, offering helping hands to the other three and nearly pulling George out of the water, despite George being capable of getting out of the water himself.

"That wasn't so bad now that that thing is dead." Kevin said with a hint of a smile. George shook his head with his own smile while retrieving the pistol from his bag. "I think the door's over here somewhere."

Kevin led the way around a small thicket of bushes to where a solitary rusted door stood. It opened with a loud creak revealing another smaller pathway that wrapped around the wall of what looked like a log cabin on support beams. Kevin walked through the door warily, holding his pistol in front of him like he was trained, stopping when he heard what sounded like growling.

Instinctually, everyone froze and listened for any signs of animals that might be infected. The last thing George wanted was an infected wolf coming up behind them and tearing out their throats. Kevin raised a fist to halt any movement, despite that everyone had already done so. Slowly, he peered around the corner of the cabin, bobbing his head out as he moved closer. His head drooped and he spun around, resting his head against the wall of the cabin he sighed, dejectedly.

"Two dog like things; they're bigger and seem faster." Kevin answered the unspoken questions. "We can't get a break can we?"

"What do you suggest?" George asked, hoping the man had some sort of plan, or training involving rabid dogs that might help.

"Shoot them; I don't know anything else we _can_ do." Kevin subconsciously checked to make sure there was a round in his pistol, upon finding one he let his hand drop down by his side. George looked at his also, ejecting the clip to see how many shots he had left in the clip. To his surprise it was almost empty. Then again, he had shot the crocodile a lot, but he didn't remember shooting nearly enough to empty the almost the entire clip. He must have forgotten to put more bullets in throughout the night. Rifling through his bag to find the box of ammunition he had, George noticed that Alyssa and Yoko were also trying to check their weapons.

After reloading his pistol agonizingly slowly, George slid the clip back into the pistol and cocked the gun. He nodded that he was ready for the fight ahead and waited for the other two to give their approval too. Kevin frowned and shook his head at no one in particular as he pushed off the wall and brought his pistol up and swung around the cabin.

George blinked; the dogs that Kevin saw were gone. All around was quiet, a shallow breeze blew through the trees, but otherwise nothing stirred. Kevin side stepped to get a better look around the cabin, ready for any sort of ambush and only dropped the pistol slightly when he found nothing of the sort.

"I don't like this." Yoko said to George's right, a makeshift spear that George assumed David had made for her, resting in the crook of her arm ready to use. "Maybe Kevin didn't see anything, but it still doesn't feel right."

Kevin shot her a glare; she must not have been talking as softly as she thought. A small shake of his head was the only admonition she got to remain quiet. Yoko looked stricken, but didn't say anything afterwards. Kevin and Alyssa stepped gingerly around the next part of the winding path in near unison. They hugged the wall of the cabin as they passed through a natural arch of vines and roses.

George could see the stairs now, just off to their left only a few paces away. His breath caught in his throat when he saw the dog –like creature for what it was; a hyena. The hyena was blocking the stairs, snarling at them, but there was only one, certainly they could take one lone hyena. Something gnawed at his mind, something was wrong with the one hyena.

He needed to think, why was it wrong? Obviously the hyena was infected, but that was common place here. What was it about the hyena that was wrong? Did he know something that could help them? Was there a weakness or a strength that they could exploit or care to avoid?

Strengths.

George latched onto the word; they had strength, strength in numbers but there was only one, he couldn't be thinking about their numbers. Or could he? A lone hyena was a strange thing. It was strange because they always hunted in packs!

George turned around just in time to see the hyena leap from behind him; jaws open to rip out his throat. At the same time, the other hyena lashed out at Kevin and Alyssa. George could hear gun shots ringing out, but he didn't hear any yelps or cries, they must have missed. He had more problems to worry about though; the hyena was turning back towards George while he was still laying flat on his back. Scrambling, George tried to get to his feet, but the hyena was faster, it started at a fast sprint, teeth baring and ready for blood.

Yoko jumped in front of George, spinning the spear in her hands so she could thrust with it. In one swift movement, Yoko had the spear in her hands properly and was stabbing at the hyena. The animal changed direction quickly, avoiding the spearhead, but diverting enough to miss attacking George as well. It was enough of a distraction that George pushed himself up to his feet as Yoko took another stab at the hyena. All of her attacks were met by a deft jump to the left or right of her lunge.

Stealing a glance back at Kevin and Alyssa showed a scene similar to their own, Kevin and Alyssa circled the hyena, trying to get it into a position where they could shoot it without it dodging. Yoko screamed as the hyena took an opening she had left it and leapt at her. Dropping his pistol, George wrapped his arms around her, pulling Yoko slightly to the right, dodging the hyena's mouth. She groaned as the hyena dug its paws into her shoulder and scratched roughly leaving trails of blood down her shirt.

Yoko slipped out of George's hands grabbing at her shoulder in agony. George quickly picked up the spear Yoko had dropped and turned to face the hyena. It was already in the air, snapping its powerful jaws. George threw up the spear, brandishing it like a shield. The hyena hit him square in the chest, but the spear forced the hyena's mouth away from George's throat. He fell back with the hyena still standing on his chest, the only thing between him and certain death was the spear lodged in the hyena's mouth like some sort of cruel bit.

Wood bent and creaked as the hyena tried to bite through the wooden handle David must have found from an old mop or broom. George tried to push the hyena off, but it stayed stiff, struggling to get the spear out of its mouth. Its growls became more and more enraged, growing louder and louder until the hyena sounded more like a train than an animal. The hyena pulled to the right and George matched its movements to prevent it from getting free. To the left, then right, swinging its head back and forth it tried to shake the stick out of its mouth, but George was matching it more or less with each turn of the head. He wanted to get a knee under the animal and roll it off, but he couldn't spare the concentration to raise the knee.

Sweat beaded on his forehead as his already tired arms started to fail him. George pushed further with the spear, forcing the hyena's head back, but he couldn't push too far or else the hyena would slip underneath the stick. He slackened as the hyena started to pull away to entice it to attack again without backing away from the spear. It took the bait and pushed on again with what it thought was weakness from George. The hyena stopped when the spear wouldn't budge anymore than it would before George began to push farther away. Realizing the attack wasn't going to work, the hyena started to jump back, hoping to recollect itself for another unguarded attack. George couldn't let that happen, he had to move now.

Throwing his weight into the hyena, he rolled onto his stomach, pinning the beast underneath him, with the spear still in its mouth. Flailing about, the hyena tried to right itself by scratching at his chest and face, but George looked away, sacrificing his chest to keep his face unmarked. Pain ran up his chest as each claw dug into his flesh, tearing narrow fissures into his chest. A soft scream escaped his lips before he could stifle it in his throat, rousing Yoko from her injury.

Quickly, Yoko jumped to her knees next to George, scrambling for the pistol he had dropped. She picked it up and looked at it for a minute, considering something George wished she would hurry up with. After what seemed a lifetime, Yoko pushed the gun into the hyena's gullet and squeezed the trigger. George's ears rang after the bullet left the trigger from being so close to the gun when it fired and blood blew back into his face, but the hyena stopped struggling under his body.

He rolled off, exhausted and hoping they had a bed in the cabin that he could lay down on, when he remembered the other hyena. Groggily, he sat up and took the pistol from Yoko's hand. Aiming at where Kevin and Alyssa had been, he was ready to pull the trigger on anything moving until he saw that they were on the ground panting as well over a fresh corpse.

"There better be something damn important in this lion's den." Alyssa huffed.

"What about this cabin? Maybe there are medical supplies or...something that could help us." George said as he stumbled to his feet wearily. Without waiting for a response, George started ascending the old wooden stairs to the cabin. When he didn't hear any protests behind him, he guessed the others were following. He wasn't sure where he was leading them, there could be another ambush ahead or maybe, just maybe there was some sort of respite. However, he learned long ago that hope this night didn't mean much in reality.


	38. Chapter 38

George stopped just short of the door, letting the others crowd around the door in the fashion that they had begun to become accustomed. Kevin stepped up next to the door where it would open so he could swing into the room and dispose of any zombies that might try to attack them. Alyssa twisted the doorknob and pushed the door open while Kevin and George swung into the room, splitting up as they moved into the cabin. George was at Kevin's side with the two women piling in behind them, all raising whatever weapons they had.

The cabin was empty, or at least empty of anything living or dead. Instantly, he let the messenger bag roll off his shoulder and began rifling through until he found what he was looking for. George stripped off his jacket and shirt, pouring a bit of rubbing alcohol on the long slits in his chest. Growling from the sharp pain, George put the cap on the bottle without replacing it completely; he would need it in a minute. Gingerly, George wrapped a bandage around his chest, covering all of the shallow cuts from the hyena. Leaning back on his heels, he looked at Yoko.

"Take your coat off." He said, panting slightly from the pain the alcohol caused.

"W..what?" Yoko's face turned red and she looked at the other two.

"Your coat, not your shirt, I know you got scratched, if I don't take care of it, it will get infected with bacteria I _can_ kill, I can keep it from getting infected at least a little."

Yoko hesitantly stripped her coat off and rolled up her shirtsleeve to reveal three small, shallow gashes near her shoulder. George took the bottle of rubbing alcohol and poured a little on her cuts. Yoko took a sharp breath, but made no other sound while George placed a large bandage on the wound. He gave her a reassuring smile while he smoothed out the medical tape he placed on the edges of the bandage.

"Okay, so let's see what we can find then shall we?" George said as he clipped the messenger bag back up.

The cabin may have seemed bare of life, but it made up for it with almost everything else in the world cluttering the walls or piled up in haphazard piles on the floor. Different instruments for keeping the park running or measuring temperatures of both animals and their habitats were on tables and in small clusters near tables. A map of the park was stapled up on one of the walls near to a desk with a computer and a plethora of notebooks all filled with writing and some calculations for things George couldn't fathom. Off to one side of the cabin, a cabinet rested against the wall and next to that was a closet with a park ranger's jacket, which Kevin threw to Alyssa with a nod and a smile.

George looked around the room when they realized it was safe from any sort of zombie. He looked closely at the computer, only half expecting it might work. Pushing the power button and tapping the keyboard, the screen didn't change so he determined it must be dead. _Like everything else in the city_.

"Oh, what do we have here?" Kevin said behind George. When he turned around, George saw that Kevin was holding a large rifle and checking to see if it was loaded. "Ah, too bad, it's only got two shots, but maybe we can find some more around here somewhere." Kevin searched the cabinet and came back with a box of ammunition for the rifle, but it was only half-full with only four rounds.

"It's better than nothing I suppose." Alyssa said as she adjusted the jacket and gave Kevin and appreciative smile. "Do you think you can handle it?"

Kevin looked hurt, but hid the look quickly. "I think so, but I think I should share the wealth." He reached behind and took out the pistol he had and handed it to Yoko. "Can you handle that?"

Yoko looked at the pistol in her hand for a few moments before nodding woodenly. George was sure she would only use it as a last resort, but he hoped she would be able to shoot the zombies and not any of them. She unzipped a compartment in her backpack and slipped the pistol in, zipped the bag back up and swung it on around again.

"Is there anything else we need?" Kevin looked at George but worded it for anyone.

George stroked his chin thoughtfully and looked around the cabin before answering. "I had hoped we might find some medical supplies in here, but I see that they are going to be few and far between in this city, we'd better watch that we don't need too many too fast."

"We could hit up another hospital if you think we need them _that _badly." Alyssa suggested, but George could hear the hesitance in her voice.

"No, no, I'm not that needy of supplies, I was only hoping to maybe get enough to feel more comfortable about our situation."

Kevin grunted his understanding and hefted the rifle up onto his shoulder, gripping the strap near the barrel of the gun to prevent it from swinging too far. He led the way to the door, but stopped when a soft tinny noise made its way into the silence of the cabin.

"…making….stand….po…station."

"Did you hear that?" Alyssa asked, the rest nodded and looked around the room.

"..epeat…king a…poli…tion"

Within a few seconds, they found the source of the noise. A large, table-sized, radio receiver was crackling slightly louder now. Kevin set the rifle down as Alyssa started to fiddle with the knobs on the radio, trying to yield a clearer reception. The message came and went, but after a few attempts, they pieced together the message.

"So, they're making a stand at the police station." Kevin stated flatly. "That sounded like Marvin, but it must have been recorded. Who knows how long that thing has been playing?"

"It couldn't have been long, that just kicked on now." Yoko said, pointing at the radio. "Even if it's recorded, someone must have put it back on."

"It could also be set to go off in five, ten, fifteen minute intervals automatically. They could also have it set to go on all frequencies. My point is that, as much as I want to go back to the station and help out, it could have been overrun by now. I don't think it's smart to go running into that station. Especially if there are a lot of people there, who knows how long it takes to turn into…" Kevin trailed off, looking at George and Yoko wishing he had stopped his rant earlier.

"We're not dead yet Kevin, and who knows, we may _all _be infected with whatever is causing all of this." George wished he could be as certain as he sounded, he still could feel something changing within his body, but he didn't know if it was all just psychological or not. Whatever was happening to him, he prayed that he could find a cure before he turned into one of those monsters.

"You think we could all be infected, even if we weren't bitten or scratched?" Kevin asked.

"We don't know that it isn't airborne, if it is we just might have a natural immunity to it, or a longer incubation period. Regardless, we all need to find a cure and preferably sooner than later." George paused and looked at the other three. "Now, I'm not sure about the rest of you, but the police station sounds like a good idea to me. I would like to go there, I know the risks, but I think if we had the entire police force behind us, we might be able to survive longer that just alone. I can tell that, at the very least, it takes longer than an hour to change, so we could tell if anyone was sick and we could quarantine him or her, or something. However, I'd like to have more guns than we have now and be able to count on people who know how to use them better than myself."

George paused to take a breath, finally realizing that the others were staring at him with a mixture of contemplation for his suggestion and surprise. Kevin opened his mouth to protest, but shut it quickly when Alyssa shot him a look.

"How do you think we should get there? Walk?" She said scratching at her arm, George hoped it was only an itch.

"No, the train runs near the police station, we would have to go forward to go back, but I think it's the safest way. The Olney train station is only a few blocks from the police station."

"So, we have to stay in the zoo." Yoko said, looking disappointed in his methodology now that it was fully revealed.

"Sadly, yes but we just have to keep doing what we've been doing. Nothing has changed in that sense, just our destination." George thumbed the holed grip on his pistol as he waited for their decision.

"Do you think we could get out of the city with the train?" Alyssa looked at Kevin for her answer. Kevin shrugged.

"I don't think I'm the one to tell you that, we should ask Jim."

George put the pistol in its holster on his waist. "Then we should wait to bring this up with the others, let's just get done with what we're supposed to get done, okay?"

In a milling mass, the others shuffled towards the door mumbling that they agreed. Kevin was the first out, raising his new rifle as if he expected more of the hyenas to pop out of nowhere. After a few quick swings and turns, Kevin moved on, satisfied that nothing was waiting for them to move. Their footsteps echoed in the silence that swam around them.

The lion's den was just up ahead around the far wall of the cabin, a set of double doors announced the entrance with the relief of two lions prowling among trees, circling each other. George just hoped that the lions were somewhere else or at least dead somehow. Stacking up against the doors, the survivors readied themselves to open the doors and slip into the lion's den.

George pulled down on the knob, pushed inward and slammed his knee hard against the door. It refused to budge no matter how hard he pushed. George almost threw his whole weight into trying to either break or push aside whatever obstruction was barring the door from opening, until he realized how much noise that could make.

"Damn it, we're going to have to find another way around." George let go of the door and comforted an aching knee. "Any suggestions, Kevin did Eric say anything about another way in?"

Kevin shook his head while stroking the stubble on his chin. "No, he just said this door would lead to the lion's den, nothing about another way in besides this door here."

"Maybe we can climb over?" George asked, scratching his head on consternation.

"That's probably not a good idea, what if there's a lion or something else waiting for us to fall into their mouths. No, I say we just look for another way around; they can't have only one entrance. There must be a back way somewhere; we just have to find it."

"Yeah, and how long will that take, we might as well just go look for the others and see if Eric can give us a key to unlock the door. I don't think we have that kind of time, and really I think we can just look over to see if anything is waiting to eat us."

"Yeah, I agree that we can climb over _carefully _but what about safely? That bird already attacked you and you've seen how high those hyenas can jump, the person who goes over would be a sitting duck for any kind of that attack. I just don't want any of us taking any needless risks." Kevin must have been taking to his position as a police officer a little more seriously since the police station call, but George had to agree with him. Although, he didn't want to take the chance of having to spend hours looking around the zoo aimlessly trying to find another way into the den if he didn't have to.

"What about you two, can you think of-" George turned to Alyssa and Yoko, but stopped short of continuing what he was going to say. Alyssa stood off to one side, looking around the cabin a bit farther off and Yoko was nowhere to be found. "Where's Yoko?"

"I'm over here," Yoko stumbled out of a small copse of bushes, landing on her hands and knees. She let out a breathy groan as she got back to her feet. "I think I found something that might help."

Yoko dusted herself off before setting off into the small copse again. George followed her, while Kevin held the bushes apart for Alyssa. She led them a few feet in and followed the wooden fence until they came to a small hole in the fence that was only big enough to fit and adult lying on their stomach.

"I think it leads into the den." Yoko seemed pleased to have found it as quickly as she did.

"I don't know, I still think it would be just as dangerous as climbing over." Kevin folded his arms and a frown creased his face, physically exemplifying his stolidity.

"This seems safer," Alyssa spoke finally. "We can easily climb back in and if anything tries to come through, we have the advantage of a smaller opening to funnel all of the animals or zombies into our line of sight."

Kevin's frown deepened, but he didn't say anything. After a few moments of considering Alyssa, he sighed and gave a short nod. "Fine, but I'm going through first, I don't need you hurt anymore than you already are George, and it's my responsibility to see you all safely through this."

Alyssa tsked, "Fine by me, you can be the hero, let's just get back on that train okay? God I hope it goes out of the city."

Kevin slid the rifle around his body so that it rested, pinned between his shoulder blades and lowered himself onto his stomach. In a few deft movements, Kevin was wriggling into the small opening, shifting his body to squeeze through with the rifle. He moved like a snake, curling his back and arching it, as if he were threading a needle with his whole body.

Suddenly, he stopped and used his toes to inch himself forward slowly. Kevin remained motionless for a minute or two before crawling out fully and whispering back into the hole. "It's safe, it doesn't look like there's anything even moving in here. It's not the lion's den though; we're still going to have to find a way into there."

Alyssa pushed through the hole next, followed by Yoko and finally George. The hole was tighter than he imagined, he didn't understand how Kevin had been able to fit through as quickly as he did, especially with the rifle on his back. George felt his stomach, tapping it; he would have to go for more runs after this was over. If this was ever over…

Looking around showed that Kevin was right, they would have to find another way into the lion's den, but at least where they were was safe. George walked past a dilapidated merchant's cart and into the larger courtyard beyond. Shops lined the outer edge of the courtyard, which went around in a circle, coming together at two entrances to the park. In the middle, separating the two sides of the courtyard was a large circular fountain, split in two by a thick walkway. In the center of the walkway were two lions on opposite sides of the walkway. Both were facing the same direction, one into the walkway, and the other facing the stores. That was odd, George wasn't a landscape expert, but he thought there should be some sort of symmetry with the two. Shaking his head, George walked around the courtyard with the others, checking the doors to the stores.

"Anything?" Alyssa called out to everyone. She received a mishmashed murmur of variations of the same "no." Putting a hand on her hip and clearing a loose strand of hair from her eye, she looked around the courtyard. "Well, how are we going to get to the lion's den?"

"We could break into one of these stores, I'm sure we could find a back door or something. One of these stores has to be an employee entrance to a feeding area or something. They'd have it marked off though, so no one could just walk into the den." Kevin seemed certain about his suggestion, going far enough to peer through a few windows as he spoke. "George, you and I will split up the stores while Alyssa and Yoko look around out here some more, okay?"

George was not so sure, something told him that Kevin was wrong, but he couldn't place it. Regardless of George's reservations, he went along and started to look through the stores for any signs of a back door or employee entrance. The first store he broke into, using his jacket to soften the force on his arm as he broke the door's display window in with his elbow, sold food for the various animals in the zoo. Tubs of dry pellets filled the area around the cash register and buckets of feed for various animals were stacked on shelves around the store. The only other door in the room led to the storeroom in the back with more pellets and snacks for the animals.

Stepping over the broken glass, George left the store and made his way to the next store and the next, each store almost identical as the first. George was about to give up, but decided to try one more store before telling Kevin it wasn't worth the effort. His elbow was beginning to throb from using it to smash in the windows and he didn't want to have to deal with the pain.

Luckily, the store George had chosen was unlocked, so he opened the door and slipped in quietly. This wasn't exactly a store from the looks of it, it looked more like a storage unit the zoo built into the where zoo employees could get food for the animals and supplies for handling the zoo. The clutter around the door forced George to step over over-turned boxes and crates. George slid past a large bucket of brooms and mops and nearly hit a shelf full of cleaning supplies before he reached the other end of the building. With a huff, George straightened his coat and peered around a shelf in front of him. He could just barely see another door.

Grumbling, George found some good footing between a shelf that had fallen down and the contents that spilled from the fall. He almost tripped three times before getting close enough to the door to stop dead in his tracks.

The body of a zoo employee was lying just beyond the doorway. The man's face was mutilated enough to obscure any resemblance of a human being, the face was crushed inwards, fragments of bone and bits of teeth poking through the skin where jagged slashes didn't rend the flesh apart. Blood pooled beneath the body and spread outwards in a circle covering the ground. On the wall, streaks of blood and bloody handprints marred the white paint and ran in thin rivulets down towards the floor.

Covering his mouth with a hand, George looked away and fought the urge to vomit. He thought he was used to seeing this amount of gore, but his stomach contracted in heaves. Thankfully, he hadn't had anything to eat the entire night or else he would have left the contents on the floor.

Something in the back of his mind stopped his heaves. Why was the blood still running? Why hadn't it dried? Fear seized his throat as a small cry was about to escape. He heard the noise then, the soft scraping and gnashing of teeth. Blood squirting out as flesh was ripped from bone.

The lioness stepped into view, blood dripping from the fur around her mouth. A bony paw clawed at the man's face again, peeling the remaining flesh away from his face in thin strips. She pushed her paw against the corpse's head and leaned down, cracking the skull open with a sickening _crunch_. Lowering her head, the lioness nibbled at the brains that oozed from the cracks in the skull.

George backed up slowly, trying to avoid notice as he stepped carefully around debris. It was taking him nearly twice as long to get around the debris because of the extra caution he was taking, but he was avoiding most of the clutter this way. Step after heart pounding step, George moved his way quietly through the room, praying that the lioness would take long in finishing her meal.

He looked back and saw the door was only a few feet away. When he looked back, the lioness was gone.

_Shit._

Where did she go? George stole a few quick glances around but he couldn't find her anywhere. Had she left the room and was stalking him? If she were, wouldn't she have taken him by now? Too many uncertainties made George quicken his step. Unfortunately, with the added speed he carelessly knocked into one of the shelves.

A hollow scraping pierced the silence, growing louder and softer. George looked up and saw one of the metal canisters of some cleaning spray spinning unsteadily. He reached out to stop it from falling, but missed and it plummeted towards the floor. He reached out with the other hand and caught it before it hit the floor. Breathing a silent sigh of relief, George put the can on another shelf and looked back to where the lioness had been. To his surprise, she was back again, eating some exposed muscle around the corpse's bicep. He let out a second sigh of relief that she hadn't noticed him and was still occupied by her meal. He would have to warn the others when he…

"I found it!" Alyssa screamed from just outside. George froze; his heart was in his throat and his stomach was roiling with fear. _Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!_

The lioness paused just inches from taking another bite and looked back towards the door where George was standing. Her eyes narrowed and a low reverberating growl started in the back of her throat. Falling backwards, George wasted no time in running for the door. He heard a loud roar from behind him and the sound of shelves crashing to the ground.

The lioness, despite her immense size, gracefully leaped onto the tops of shelves and halved the distance between her and George before George could even get his wits in order. He was still about two paces from the door when the shelf next to him knocked him onto his stomach. The shelf smacked heavily against the wall, forming a shield between him and the lioness. George spun around to lay on his back a moment before the lioness pounced onto the shelf.

A giant paw scratched through the gaps between the crosspieces. Razor sharp claws swatted furiously at the air inches above George's face. He lay there too stunned to move, afraid of giving the lioness enough room to sink her claws into his face.

With a metallic groan, the shelf started to bend inward slightly, snapping George out of his trance. Carefully, but quickly, George pushed himself towards the door, only getting his shirt sliced by the claws twice. The shelf provided enough cover to get him safely through the door without the lioness killing him.

As soon as the door swung closed, George scrambled to his feet. "LION! LION!"

George flailed his arms at the others standing around Alyssa, examining the coin. Not even a second later, the thin wall broke open in an explosion of plaster and wood. The lioness rolled onto the stone walkway in front of the shops and easily jumped back to her feet at the end of the roll. George thought he heard Kevin curse, but it was too late, the dance with death had begun.


	39. Chapter 39

Glass rained down on his back as George groggily scrambled to his feet. His mind was racing, but his thoughts were jumbled and it took all of his strength to remain coordinated enough to push himself to his knees without retching. The cobblestones swirled in his vision and as he got shakily to his feet, he stumbled forward into the fountain. Catching himself on the edge, George turned around just in time to see the lioness leaping pacing in front of him.

She growled and looked him up and down; finally deciding to attack, she let out a deafening roar and leaped at him. George threw his arms up, knowing that it wouldn't do any good and let out a startled cry. He knew that he couldn't survive if she hit him. His knees collapsed and he fell roughly to the ground with a groan.

_BLAM!_ A gunshot rang out in the night from somewhere. The lioness rolled in the air, her limbs sprawling in every direction as blood sprayed out of the newly formed hole in her side. Rolling heavily on the ground, she spun back onto her feet and roared at where the gunshot came from.

Kevin stood, pulling the action back on the rifle and taking aim again. In a few short movements, the lioness was next to George, blocking Kevin's line-of-sight. "George, get away from her!" Alyssa screamed.

George tried to follow her instructions, but the lioness pushed him back down on the ground with her massive paw, leaning in close to his face. He could smell the death from her rotting maw, blood and saliva dripping from her teeth on his chest. Her eyes met his and he knew he was dead.

"Shit, I can't get a shot!" Kevin screamed.

Blocked from Kevin's shots, the lioness took her time with George. He could feel her claw pressing into his chest, scraping into the fresh cuts that were already there. He started to cry out in pain but bit the inside of his lip. Anything could cause the lioness to kill him, any sudden movement, any sign of fear.

Her rancid breath invaded his senses, his revulsion threatened to bring up the bile in his stomach. Turning his face away from the lioness, George squeezed his eyes closed. The lioness moved closer to his face, sniffing his cheek and his hair. She licked his face, tasting him and testing his flesh. George opened his eyes slightly, but shut them quickly when he saw her teeth bared, opening her jaw slowly. Her head hovered there for a moment, mouth propped open, drool dripping onto George's face like an oozing swamp beginning to overtake the land. With an ear-shattering roar, she attacked. Her head cocked back and sprung forward, her mouth opened wide and her teeth seemed to move backward, allowing her mouth to open further.

_BANG!_ Another gunshot rang out in the courtyard, throwing the lioness off George. He gasped, suddenly able to breathe. His lungs ached, he wasn't even aware that she had been pressing down on his chest. George rolled over, coughing and inhaling at the same time. It made for an uncomfortable mixture. He got back up onto his knees, using the fountain as a brace.

While the lioness was busy with George, Kevin had been able to move around the fountain and get a clear shot. Somewhere in the distance, George could hear Kevin asking him something, he assumed it was if he was okay and raised a hand to let him know that he was alright. It was harder to get to his feet than George could handle. He tried to stand, but his legs were water and flopped under his weight as soon as he got a foot off the ground.

A reassuring hand gripped him in his armpit and pulled him up to his feet. Alyssa and Yoko both draped his arms around their shoulders and started pulling him away from the fountain. Kevin was screaming at them to get behind him as he shot, bullet after bullet into the lioness. For the moment, Kevin was able to keep her at bay, but the bullets were going wide now, grazing instead of hitting directly. George wondered how many shots Kevin had left before he had to reload.

Before long, Kevin started to fall back, taking more time to aim than to fire. It was a delicate art, managing the time between shots so that the lioness couldn't advance too quickly and trying to find key spots to deal significant damage. However, Kevin seemed to master the art as soon as he started. George had to admire the man's ability, he was able to pick up a gun he had never fired before and use it proficiently without any practice. He suddenly saw Kevin in a new light that made his gritty attitude seem less invasive.

As George and the girls reached the other end of the courtyard, Kevin made a terrifying discovery. _Click. Click. Click._ The rifle clicked uselessly and yet Kevin still pulled the trigger and worked the bolt as he was lost in the trance of fire, bolt, repeat. Much like a shampoo commercial, Kevin was rinsing, yet he was all out of shampoo and nothing to lather the lioness with.

She took the opportunity after the second click. With a deafening roar, the lioness pounced on Kevin. George heard Alyssa scream as he fell to the ground with Yoko. She ripped out from underneath George's weight and with the same tenacity ripped the pistol free of her belt. Her screams went unabated as she fired into the lioness. Small splatters of blood erupted with each shot, but did little to deter the monster from her anger. And it was anger this time, her hunger forgotten, the lioness only remembered the pain and suffering of the rifle shots from Kevin.

It was all he could do to keep the wooden rifle between her jaws as she tried relentlessly to pry open his jugular and taste the vengeful blood of her prey. Kevin's muscles strained under the weight, but his years of exercise and training meant that he was able to hold back the lioness better than George could have imagined. Slowly, he was able to raise the lioness' head so that Alyssa could shoot. However, Alyssa was making a mad dash for the horrible jumble of flesh that was Kevin and the lioness, so many of her shots went wide.

"Just calm the hell down Alyssa!" He screamed through gritted teeth. She didn't hear him, her mind had gone blank of everything but saving him. George had seen it a number of times in the E.R., families of the people he was operating on would run up to the clean room just before the operating room, trying to push into the surgery. Every one of them had no idea what they were doing, the pure human need to keep their loved ones alive was all that had fueled them then and that was what Alyssa was fueled by now.

She ran out of ammo half-way through the run and tossed the gun aside; instead she lowered her shoulder like some football player trying to tackle a running back. Alyssa landed on top of the lioness instead of hitting her directly. The two women rolled haphazardly across the cobbled ground, with Alyssa falling slightly to the right of the lioness, who was able to get back on her paws almost instantly. Groaning loudly, Alyssa didn't even realize when the attacked.

Thick, hot streams of blood squirted out of three long gashes in Alyssa's back. Her deep red jacket blended in with the crimson blood now leaking from the tracks in her flesh. Somewhere in the back of his mind, George heard the cry before she uttered it. He felt her pain as the lioness dug her claws into the soft underside of her arm and pulled back ruthlessly. Another swipe and another, the blood fell everywhere. She landed one more blow on Alyssa's leg, which caused one final spasm from Alyssa as her flesh was peeled back by the razor sharp claws.

That was all the lioness had a chance to do because within a heartbeat from the last attack, Kevin dove on her with his knife in one hand. He was stabbing it before they collapsed to the ground. "Die die die die die die DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!!!"

Kevin's screams whirled into the stillness of the night. Inhuman cries echoed as the last of the lioness' life blood drained from each of the deep cuts. Long after she was dead, Kevin was still stabbing the beast, his clothes already covered in its blood were now drenched with each new splatter that bringing the knife out of the body caused.

He sat for a moment, with the knife suspended in the air above the corpse, ready to plunge the blade in again but didn't. His face was a mixture of unadulterated horror and surprise, with just a sprinkling of ecstasy. Everything, except the horror, drained from him though when he turned to see Alyssa laying on the ground, unmoving. He recoiled from the beast and nearly leaped over Alyssa as he came to her side.

"No, no, no, no. No. NO. NO! You can't be dead, say something." As much as he screamed, Kevin only gingerly touched Alyssa's shoulder. She didn't move. "Come on Alyssa, give me something, give me one of your goddamned quips, one of those sarcastic remarks. ANYTHING!"

It was quiet for a long time, but after what seemed like an eternity, George could hear his sobs from across the courtyard. He too hurt for Alyssa's passing, but Kevin had taken a liking to Alyssa, much like he had taken a liking to Cindy (as much as he didn't want to admit it, he did feel something for the woman.) The sobs continued for a minute before they abruptly stopped. His sniffling didn't stop, but George could _feel_ that he had stopped crying.

"GEORGE! George! Get over here, get over here NOW!" Kevin was up and running from him and Yoko before George's mind could register what was happening. The grizzled cop, covered from head to toe in quickly drying blood pulled him from Yoko's grasp and hoisted him onto his shoulders. George's feet barely cleared the ground as Kevin ran to Alyssa's body with George on his back. Only, it wasn't Alyssa's body he ran to, it was Alyssa.

True, she coughed up blood and she moaned loudly, but that was only because the lioness had landed a blow that hit her in the face, cutting the inside of her lip. Most of the blows were actually shallow and perhaps even superficial, except for the last gash on her leg, that he was afraid may have severed the artery in her thigh.

He began immediately, yelling for Kevin to fetch the messenger bag. When he got the bag, he took out three large rolls of bandages and a bottle of rubbing alcohol. He handed Kevin two of the rolls and twisted the cap off of the bottle of rubbing alcohol. She would need to go to a hospital within the next hour, but if he could dress her wounds and stop the bleeding in her thigh now, she would be able to make it that hour.

His mood was suddenly brighter than it was been for the longest time this night. The alcohol had the expected effect, Alyssa's whole body clenched up and she screamed bloody murder, but George emptied the whole bottle on her body and then another half of a bottle on the thigh wound. Kevin began stripping her to the waist and dressing the rest of her wounds while George started on the thigh. It was a deep gash and George would actually see the bone, but that wasn't what his highly trained eyes sought. He looked at the thin veins and arteries which were cut in two, matching each one he could find to another on the opposite side of her thigh. None of the veins he saw were major and he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that.

Rivers of blood slowly gurgled out of her thigh regardless, he had to stop the bleeding. George remembered back to the days in medical school when they had studied field medicine and triage units from World War II, he tried to think of anything they had on hand that could stop the bleeding, yet as he rummaged through the messenger bag he only saw bandages and medicine. He hadn't thought to bring anything to repair a severed artery or vein because in a sick survivalist part of his mind, he knew that if someone was that bad during this night they were dead.

Shaking that part of his mind away again, George threw the messenger bag away. He knew what he could use, but that may cause more problems than it fixes. Although those problems would be farther down the line. _They didn't worry about jewelry on the Titanic._ He didn't know why that thought came to him, but it helped him make the necessary decision.

"Kevin, do you have any matches?" George asked. Without answering, Kevin reached into his back pocket and brought out a dry packet of matches. George thought that was odd because of all the water they had been submerged in throughout the night. He wondered if they would work but before he could ask Kevin answered his question.

"I found them in the cabin, along with some smokes, I didn't want to say anything because I don't usually smoke, but I thought I could make an exception tonight." Kevin said, trying to take his mind off Alyssa's impending mortality. George didn't want to waste the time responding so he pushed the middle of the box out and stole half of the matches from inside and shut the box. He struck the first one and let it fire up for a few seconds before flicking his wrist and extinguishing the flame.

Before the tip could get cold, George pushed it against the first bubbling vein. The match head hissed and quickly got cold; it didn't stop the flow, but George could see that there was a noticeable difference from before. Blood leaked out of the vein instead of pouring. He lit another match and repeated the process; this match had much the same effect, not stopping the flow but slowing the stream. It took three matches before the blood stopped flowing from one vein. _This is taking too long, she'll die!_ George growled in his head as he bent back down and took two matches instead of one.

Striking both matches against the sandpaper striker, George started the process again on the next vein. He used both matches on either side of the opening of the vein. The result was astounding. With both matches stemming the flow of blood, it took only a second before the blood stopped flowing.

Smiling, George went through the task much quicker than he thought he could after the first match. His new method of light, extinguish and cauterize was astonishingly effective. Alyssa merely moaned as George stopped the last vein from squirting blood and applied the necessary pressure to stop the smaller capillaries from bleeding. Kevin helped him bandage her thigh tightly and turn her over.

George could hear his history of medicine professor's voice droning in the back of his mind. _Never, I repeat NEVER use something in someone that can leave traces, it will become infected and can be worse than the actual cut. However, as we can see from these triage units, always break down the order of importance. Is your patient going to die? Then hell, use a damn match; use a cigar for all we care. They are dying, and if you're going to worry about infection when they are dying, then you're not a goddamn doctor._

Kevin was smiling and hugging Alyssa's head to his chest as she coughed and spit blood out of her mouth onto his chest. She hadn't found her voice since George was carried to her, but George could see that she was going to be fine for the time being. They _had_ to get her to a hospital soon though, all George could do here was stop the bleeding and pray that she was alright. He needed to examine her and see just what went wrong before they could continue.

"Thank you George, thank you." Kevin whispered as he combed Alyssa's fall of blond hair through his fingers. She patted his chest lightly at first, mumbling something incomprehensible, but soon it became a vicious slap.

"Get off, get off of me you ox!" Alyssa growled into his chest. Kevin released her with a startled laugh. "I can barely breathe in there, and -What the _hell_?- you're covered in blood. I don't want to have my face wiped in that animal's blood."

Kevin helped George to his feet, they were finally getting back to working now, although he suspected this was more from helping Alyssa than anything else. He then moved and brought Alyssa onto his back carefully, cupping her thighs in his hands to stabilize her. She winced, but held back any sounds as he walked her to the gate next to Yoko. Yoko unlocked the gate that had been locked from this side and opened the two large wooden doors for the rest of them. She peered into the roadway beyond, checking for any animals.

The walk back to the director's office was uneventful, George tripped up a few times as he worked feeling back into his legs but otherwise, it felt surprisingly like a walk through the zoo. pre-outbreak. Yoko had taken point, cautiously examining every pathway and every turn as they went. George had never assumed Yoko could step up like she was now. She, being the only one either not badly injured or helping someone, took the responsibility of keeping the rest of them safe.

As they walked through the door leading to the swamp area, George had a sudden realization. Alyssa couldn't go back that way. The bandages can't get wet; they would become useless and probably just cause an infection to spread with the moisture. They would need to find another way around and George said so.

"I don't think there _is_ another way around George." Kevin said, distraught about Alyssa.

"I'm sure there's some other way we can go. They must have another route, you know how many kids are scared of alligators? They can't make this the only way around." Alyssa said from Kevin's back.

"Actually, I think I saw another door back there that might be of some use, but I think it might be locked." Yoko said, turning slightly toward the door.

"Locked? I think I might just be able to do something about that." Alyssa leaned back with a wince and reached into her coat.

"Whoa! Watch it, if you move too much you might fall." Kevin admonished her.

"Oh, shut it, I'm fine, I don't think you'll give up an opportunity to have your hands this far up my legs." Alyssa replied coolly as she took out a small leather container from her coat. "I haven't done this in a while, but I can probably pick the lock as long as it isn't too difficult."

"Alright, we'll have to give it a try then, can you manage Alyssa?" George asked.

She shot him an I-just-said-I-could look but didn't say anything. He raised his hands defensively and started toward the door. It took them a few minutes after backtracking to find the door Yoko was talking about. The door was covered with enough stray branches to make a forest jealous. Yoko and George held back the branches while Kevin took Alyssa into the opening. He crouched down to one knee and leaned her into the door. She bent over gingerly and started in on the lock.

At first it looked like she was doing well, but after a minute of jiggling the two picks in the lock, she cursed and pulled them out. Muttering to herself, she switched to another pick and slipped it into the keyhole. Another couple of minutes and she cursed again. George was getting antsy, he looked around almost every few seconds to look for something sneaking up on them, but there was never anything there. Yoko nervously swapped her weight off one leg and onto another as Alyssa made her attempts.

Finally, after three picks and ten minutes, the tell-tale _click_ of the lock sounded and Alyssa slowly pushed the door open. Kevin stepped back and Yoko walked into the doorway with her pistol raised high. Inside, George recognized the room. It was one of the first rooms they had encountered when they left the train. The seats were still facing the stage of the play room. On the stage, the drapes were decorated in a jungle setting, with childishly painted trees and animals.

"Oh thank God." Alyssa exalted. Kevin let out a sigh and bent down so that Alyssa wouldn't hit her head against the doorframe. George could feel his spirits lifting, they were almost out of this God forsaken zoo, and he wanted, no, _needed_ to see Cindy and make sure she was alright.

Yoko led them through the play area, weaving in and out of benches to the steps in the back where they had left through before. The room beyond was exactly how they remembered it, racks of costumes lined the walls and the maze of boxes were still bathed in darkness.

"Wait, I want to see if something here fits me. I'd really like to wear something other than these bandages." Alyssa said, indicating her exposed midriff and the bandages which, while placed on excessively, barely covered her breasts.

"Try not to get anything too tight or too loose, it will bunch the bandages and make them shift uncomfortably which can make them fall off." George warned her.

"Fine, Kevin take me over there and let me down, Yoko can you help me from there?" Alyssa asked and Yoko nodded. Kevin did as he was told, but couldn't help offering her some advise.

"You know, I think this fits the criteria." Kevin said as he held up a nearly sheen red dress that couldn't reach any further than the middle of her thigh. Alyssa laughed but didn't say anything. "Okay, how about this?" Kevin held up a bulky karate outfit that would make her look ridiculous.

"How'd you know I was a black belt?" Alyssa asked in mock surprise. "I could show you a few moves if you don't shut up."

Kevin chuckled, "Hey, easy now Jet Li, no need for any of that." Alyssa waved him off and Yoko stepped to where he had just been. Kevin walked over to George and they both turned their back to the two women. "So, how is she?"

George rubbed the stubble on his chin introspectively as he considered Kevin's question. "I think she'll be fine if we can get her some real medical care, but it _will_ have to be soon. I'm not optimistic about her making it through if we can't get her to a hospital within an hour or two. She was bleeding a lot from her thigh and I don't know if the matches were really hot enough to completely stop the bleeding. I need a suture kit and maybe we'll be lucky enough to find some surgical gel to stop the bleeding."

"All-in-all George, how's she holding up? Don't give me what you hope." Kevin's face was black, almost scarily so as he pleaded with George for an answer he liked.

"Kevin, I can't say she'll be fine, but I think if I can get her to a hospital, she'll be poised to make a full recovery. She should be fine, but we need to get her to a hospital soon. I mean, right after we leave here soon. We may not be able to go to the Police Station right away. I know of a hospital in the woods that we might pass on our way to the station, but who's to say that it won't be overrun with those damn zombies?" George threw his hands up and let them fall to his side with a resounding _thwak_.

"Alright, alright George we'll go to your hospital, I can't lose her, not now, not ever..." Kevin frowned as he trailed off, lost in his own mind. He was brought out of his melancholy musings when Alyssa cleared her throat.

"Not too tight I hope?" She asked as George and Kevin turned around. She stood before them on Yoko's shoulder, wearing a jogging outfit, a set of loose black sweat pants and a work-out top that cut off just above her belly button.

"That should be fine, but there weren't any regular shirts back there?" George asked, not really worried but concerned.

"No, just some pirate outfits and dresses that aren't really good for moving in." Alyssa said offhand as she had Yoko take her back to Kevin. He bent down and let her climb onto his back, easing her softly in to position.

It didn't take them long to get back to the director's office, but when they got there, they were alone. The other group had not gotten back yet. George stifled a sudden surge of fear as he wondered why they were not back yet. George's group had run into trouble and they had gotten back already, so why wasn't Cindy's group back yet. What had happened to them?

He shook his head, clearing the frightful images that had surfaced. He would have to wait, they would be here and he _could_ wait for a while. She would be here and then he would laugh at himself. Yes, that is exactly what would happen. Now if only he could believe that.

"I guess we're the first ones back..." Yoko said, her voice dropping off as she noticed the look on George's face. She took the coin from her pocket and placed it next to the statue. They would just have to wait, wait for either the other group to come back or wait until they couldn't wait any longer.

They would be fine, George told himself over and over again. If only he could believe that...


	40. Chapter 40

Almost immediately, George began to pace, whispering to himself that they were fine. _Being late does not constitute danger_. He thought hopefully, but a sour feeling began to creep into the depths of his stomach with each passing minute. Fear splintered cracks in the façade of placidness he had been developing all night. He flicked his wrist into the air and checked his watch for the thirtieth time in five minutes. The second hand seemed to be flying at an inhuman speed, racing against his patience like a stock car using nitrous. It was an unfair match and George knew it.

Kevin wrapped a comforting arm around a shaky Alyssa as he followed George walk back-and-forth in a well maintained path with his eyes. Soon enough, he was liable to wear out the carpet and leave a permanent track. Kevin opened his mouth to say something comforting, but nothing came out. Instead, he pulled Alyssa closer, feeling slightly guilty about having Alyssa safe and sound while Cindy was out there somewhere. Although, there was another, smaller, feeling of guilt as he glanced at the clock on the wall. They would have to leave soon, maybe even start out without the train, leaving the others to catch up at the hospital George knew about. Alyssa wouldn't last much longer without medical care and Kevin could probably make it on his own if George gave him directions, but he didn't know how to treat these kinds of wounds…

Subconsciously, George flashed him a knowing smile of thanks for the attempt at saying something comforting. That was his way, always trying to hide his own feelings and placate others when they were feeling apoplectic. George's way was one of constant appeasing, making others feel calm through his own outward calm even though inside he was in turmoil; a perfect storm of anger and worry, fear and guilt. Guilty over letting Cindy leave with the other group. Why hadn't he argued for her to come with him? Why had he let his rational mind take over and see Jim's point? They _had _ needed another person who could deal with injuries and maybe even keep someone alive. Yet, he felt selfish, why were the others better than he?

Was he so used to abandoning his own needs for everyone else's wants that he sabotaged his own feelings for a woman he was just beginning to realize that he had true feelings for? No, they needed her and he would have to learn to live with the risks she was taking. Even though he knew in his mind that they had all made the right decision, George played the last pleading look she gave him over and over in his mind. Unwillingly, he mulled over the image that was now seared into his mind's eye, digesting the curves of her face, the way her eyes squinted slightly in the darkness, the hint of a pout on her face as she was taken away by the invisible leash of their decision.

Tears of frustration threatened to break the dam he had built up in the night as he turned to make another revolution in the tiny office. He drummed his fingers against his thigh and stole another glance at the door. _What is taking them so long? The elephant's cage was closer than the main entrance and we ran into trouble. _ George asked himself for the thousandth time. It had been nearly half-an-hour since they arrived in the office and found it empty. Each excruciating minute had been like a lash from a whip to his heart. He felt like a father waiting for enough time to elapse before calling the police on a missing person's report. _No officer, it hasn't been twenty-four hours yet. What was that? Probably just late getting home? I'm sure something's wrong, please no don't hang up, she's out there, it's dangerous out there! _

Angrily, George cursed inwardly and reached into his pocket, his fingers brushed the cold steel of his handgun; they traced the raised design on the handle and caressed the need to go and find her he found within the pistol. It teased him, taunted his reserve and coaxed him to leave the others and look for her. A soft voice inside of him gave him pause.

_What do you really feel for her? _ It asked him. He stopped walking, not an immediate halt, but a stuttering slow realization. What _did _ he feel for her? He had just met her this night, how much could he really feel for her within only a few hours of having met her? They hadn't talked much and when they had, it had been more of a topical discussion of how they were going to get out, whether or not they would survive, and only a small bit about themselves. He knew she wanted to be a nurse, got the idea in her head when she went out for hikes with her dad, but other than that? Nothing.

Yet, no matter how much he reasoned, there was something there, a small nugget of warmth when he thought about her. Perhaps it was the potential of a relationship, or it was just a completely irrational feeling that came from the vicious need to survive, to continue something beyond his own life. He remembered reading somewhere that people in life-and-death situations usually paired up somehow, either in opposing groups or in some sort of relationship. Was that all this was? His base instinct to procreate and/or pass something along; even if only in a memory?

George shook his head, he wouldn't know until the night was over. For better or worse, he needed this night to close with Cindy next to him, not dead in a ditch somewhere in this damnable zoo. His hand closed around the grip of the pistol, the raised metallic lines cutting into his hand. The decision was made; he had to find her, to make sure she was alive.

Kevin looked up when George pulled the pistol out of his raincoat. "What are you doing George?" He asked as George ejected the clip and counted the round inside. "You can't be thinking of looking for them. George, that could take all night, we're better off waiting for them. Or maybe…"

" _Don't! _" George screamed, slamming the clip back into the pistol. "Don't you say that, we're not leaving them; I'm not leaving them." He added the last more quietly to himself. "I know where they went, I'll go there to start and work my way around. If you won't come with me, then that's fine. I won't think any less of you, but I have to go and look; I can't sit here waiting for the whole night while God knows what is out there with them."

George made a move to the door but Kevin quickly stood. "George, we need you, you can't do this. What about Alyssa?"

He stopped in front of the door and sighed, he knew this was coming and he wasn't sure why he was avoiding the subject. Alyssa needed him and Cindy needed him, it was as if they wanted him to make a choice between the two women. He couldn't leave Cindy alone in the zoo, but Alyssa would die if she didn't get to the hospital. Just giving Kevin the directions wouldn't be enough, George didn't know if the man knew how to perform surgery, but his educated guess was that he didn't.

"I…I could tell you where the hospital is and then-"

"No!" Kevin reached out and forcibly turned George around. "I can't accept that. She needs _you _ George, I could carry her, but I can't help her like you. You said that she needed to get to a hospital within the hour, now we only have half of that hour left. How long would it take to search the whole zoo? Because that's what you have to do, even if you think they're at the elephant's cage, they could have left; maybe they saw something or something blocked their path back here. George, anything could have happened and you want to go search for them, condemning her," Kevin looked back at the now paling Alyssa, she didn't look too good, but George's estimation held. She needed to get to the hospital soon or else she would lose too much blood and need a transfusion. That could take upwards to an hour. "To a slow and painful death while we wait for you to return. If you return."

A sudden anger flared within George. How could he be expected to save everyone? The whole night he had to do everything, deal with every problem that they faced. Where was Kevin when Will had been bit, where was Kevin when they needed to get the key to the forklift, where was Kevin when Cindy needed to be rescued from the zoo? Taking point and taking credit for George's hard work. He had leverage now that Alyssa was in danger. He could feel justified in letting Cindy die to save Alyssa, but George didn't have that luxury. Suddenly, he wanted to hit the man. His face angered him, his uniform angered him, his very presence angered him. The anger bubbled and frothed within his heart, wanting to be unleashed in violent physical outbursts. His fist clenched and tightened in his pocket, obscured from Kevin as he imagined the man falling down on the ground, gripping his face in shock as George comforted his aching fist. It was that image that brought him out of his apoplexy.

Slowly, George wrestled with his rage, beating it down to a smoldering ghost of what it had been just moments ago. He was almost embarrassed that he could get it under control with such ease. Breathing a little harder than normal, George was able to calm his nerves and answer Kevin's barrage of rhetorical questions. "Don't make me choose." George winced at the heat in the words, some of the anger seeped through when he thought it was gone.

Kevin stepped back and folded his arms, his hand rested on the forty-five in his shoulder holster. "You may have to George, I can wait another ten minutes, but we have to go after that. She can't survive like this. It's not right."

"Then give me five minutes to look for her and five to get back. With the train, it would only take a few minutes to get to the hospital and she wouldn't have to be bounced around in the forest on your back." George pleaded, not only with Kevin but with himself as well. Kevin was right, they could leave a note and directions to the hospital in the office for them to follow, but that was only if they were alive.

"I can't go with you George, what's to say that you won't search a little longer than Alyssa can take?" Kevin said, his eyes downcast with the shame of having to ask George that question.

"You're just going to have to trust me then, Kevin." George spat, his anger quickly coming back with vengeance. "I'm not leaving without at least trying. If you want to stop me, then you had better be willing to use that gun you're threatening me with." George turned to leave, but stopped when Yoko spoke.

"I'll go with you George, Kevin, you have to stay with Alyssa, but I can go with George. I wouldn't want him to go alone anyway." Yoko smiled at George, hoping to allay his sense of entrapment. She stood up and put her backpack on. "We can't discuss this for too long, we need all the time we can get to look for them."

"Wait, Yoko, are you okay with making sure he comes back?" Kevin asked, skeptically.

"I'm not a _dog _ Kevin; I don't need a goddamn leash!" George shouted, his voice sounded alien to him. He had not been in a shouting match since his wife had left him. That last night was a night he always regretted. Ever since then, he had become the sponge that soaked up anger and released it so that he wouldn't ever get that angry again. Now, though, he was full of anger and couldn't handle anymore, the sponge was sopping wet and it needed to take on more, it was going to give. The levies were broken and the anger was flooding in, in full force.

Kevin took an unconscious step back, nearly pulling his forty-five out of its holster. Before he was past the point of no return, he stopped and let his hands fall to his waist. "Yoko, you just make sure that he comes back."

"Screw yourself Kevin." George muttered as he threw open the door and stepped out into the cool night air. It was a shock to find the night so cool while he was so heated. His heart pounded in his ears as blood rushed into his face and heated his entire body. A small white plume smoked from his mouth as he breathed in and out while descending the stairs. Kevin was already escaping his focus as the fear for Cindy rushed back in with blinding speed.

He was concentrating so hard about Cindy that he nearly jumped when Yoko placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry about that George, and I'm really sorry about this whole situation." She was sincere and he almost felt sorry for her, having to hear that argument.

"It's not your fault, it's not even completely Kevin's fault. I just need to find her- them." George corrected himself quickly, but Yoko had heard him. She smiled sadly and placed a hand on his back, pushing him into a walk.

"We had better get started if we want to get back in time."

"She did look bad, didn't she?" George asked, his choice to look for Cindy starting to seem more selfish than he liked. She could be alive and be able to follow them, but Alyssa was definitely going to die if she didn't get George's help soon.

Yoko was silent for a long time while they walked quickly toward the elephant's cage. She stopped in front of the set of double doors that led to the pathway that ended at the elephant's cage. "Is she going to make it? Can you help her?"

George solemnly shook his head. "I don't know, I'm pretty sure I can, but no one ever knows. Add in all of the things that have gone wrong tonight and I don't like the odds." George brushed past her and opened the doors.

The smell of manure was stronger here, George assumed that they had just fertilized the plants in the area, but he also suspected that the animals had something to do with the smell as well. As he was thinking about it, he skirted around a large pile in the middle of the walk way. At first he didn't think anything of it, but then a sudden realization hit him. It was large and it was fresh. The only animal that could make something that size was safely locked up behind a huge set of metal gates.

His mind went into overdrive, when did they lock up Oscar? What was the normal decomposition rate of elephant feces? Could he have gotten out? Everything boiled down to that last question. They thought he was squared away like some sort of puzzle piece, but it was a living- _unliving?- _thing. It thought as much as a mindless beast can think, but that was enough to divine a way out of a metal cage. If he had gotten out though, wouldn't there be some sort of clue, a verbal indicator that he was released? Where was he immense crash, the sudden roar of freedom that would occur?

If it happened, it must have happened when they were fighting the lioness, he surmised. That level of action would be able to drown out almost any other stimuli but what you were focused on. And George was certainly focused during that encounter. He had no real proof that Oscar was out, but he couldn't put it out of his mind. He had no desire to go check the performance cage to determine whether or not he was really still there, nor did he have the time. Just another thing to worry about until they got out of the zoo.

When Yoko touched his shoulder he realized that he had stopped walking. His head jerked up at the touch and his hand went instinctually to his hip, where he kept the pistol. Her face was pained, almost empathetic, but he knew she was more curious than worried. Why had he stopped? What could be more important than Cindy? The anger at Kevin resurfaced, but he quashed the emotion as fast as it came. She wasn't the one he was angry with and she had decided to come with him.

"Sorry, I just got lost in thinking." He wondered whether or not he should tell her about Oscar and figured that it would only worry her. "It's nothing, let's go." He didn't want to have to explain either, it would take too much of his precious time.

They quickly crossed the pathway to the door on the far side, where the other group had gone through in search of the other raccoon medallion. George suddenly realized that his hopes were running on high, he wanted Cindy to be behind this door, just sitting there with the medallion in her hand. Let that be the end of that and they could get on to the hospital. He tried to stamp down that emotion too, but it wouldn't budge, he felt like he had felt back when they posted the results of his MCATs, expectant and sure that what he wanted was only a breath away.

Unlike his MCATs, George was disappointed with his results. The elephant cage was barren, devoid of any life except the over grown plants. He let out an audible sigh that nearly drained the life from him. Yoko stepped in before him, he wanted to move, wanted to go ahead and search for Cindy, but he could _feel _the time slipping away from him. What was the point anymore? He couldn't help her if Kevin came and dragged him back to the hospital. Besides, he knew that he couldn't let Alyssa die even if it meant leaving Cindy.

"George, we don't have much time, get yourself together." Yoko admonished him when she looked back at him. "We can still look through a couple more areas if we hurry. We'll find them and get back with plenty of time, I know it."

"Do you?" George asked, he didn't want to say it out loud, but the words issued forth before he could bite them back. Yoko's face darkened, she had come along to help George look for Cindy, not babysit him, but she would do that too if it got everyone back safely.

"George, snap out of it, she's not _here _ but she's around, now let's go." She grabbed George's arm roughly and tore him from his spot. "Come on, we don't have much time."

George walked in a semi-stupor, he was already convinced that they wouldn't find them in time, that Kevin would have to come looking for him because even with Yoko there, he could not go back without finding her. And yet, here he was being led by the hand into the aviary without a word of protest. Somewhere deep down he knew what was right, the moral thing to do. He considered himself a humanist, he had been a practicing Catholic once, but can anyone really think about the individual when the world was at stake? There were more pressing matters than one life. Compared to the billions that could already be lost can one life matter so much?

As much as he tried to rationalize his decision, he could not avoid coming up with the same answer: yes. Yes, Cindy's life can and will matter, even if only to him, it matters and he would willingly give his own for hers. Kevin would just have to live with that, or he would have to shoot George, there was just no way around it.

"George!" Yoko whispered as she came to a stop, putting her hand against his still tender chest. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" He didn't hear anything when he listened and a twinge of anger rose up in his throat. For a second he considered yelling at her that she was stalling now, but tossed the idea almost as soon as he thought it. Yoko was only trying to help everyone at the same time, regardless of conflicting goals. Yet, he couldn't let her go without saying something, she was wasting his time.

"Yoko, we have to-" And then he heard it, it was soft, a low humming, almost a rumble. As he considered what it could be, it began to turn into a rumble, one he could feel in his chest. The ground shook mightily, George grabbed Yoko when she stumbled and nearly fell. "What _is _that?"

She opened her mouth to say something, but the sound was lost as the gate in front of them slammed open. Jim burst through the door and was almost pushed down by Cindy and the other three as they sprinted toward George and Yoko.

"Run!" David screamed from the back as the whole wooden gate exploded in a dazzling display of wood and metal debris. Oscar trumpeted in anger as he charged through the opening, only stopping for a brief pause to recollect himself before returning to the chase. "Go! Move your ass!"

George turned as soon as Cindy passed him and ran along side of her. He wanted to ask her how she was, but he couldn't find his voice. Emotions swirled around in his head and in his heart. Excitement and relief at finding her, and yet extreme fear and dread at finding Oscar as well both battled inside of him. He couldn't have found her just to lose her again when she was within his reach. No, he wouldn't lose her, he wouldn't let her out of his sight ever again. George put his hand on her back and wordlessly urged her faster.

"I...I can't, I'm too tired." Cindy whispered as she ran. She began to slow, but George didn't let her, he pushed on her back and forced her to run faster.

"Don't give up, not yet, we're almost there." Jim was the first one through to the elephant's cage; he banged the large wooden door open loudly and held it open for Cindy and George.

"Hurry up!" He screamed at the others as they flew by through the door. Jim slammed the door shut again as Eric stumbled out at last. As the door swung shut, George could see that Oscar was only a few feet behind. "Shit, he's gonna ram it!"

Curses ran from everyone's lips as they fled from the door just in time to avoid the doorway exploding again as Oscar slammed his way into his cage once more with a trumpeting cry. He didn't even pause this time as he continued his assault.

Luckily, it was a short run to the next door, affording them ample time to get through before Oscar crashed in behind them. They were at the home stretch now, the steps to the administration building were only a few yards to their left. If they could make it into the building, they could probably get away from Oscar long enough to get on the train.

"In the building!" George screamed as Jim rushed up the steps as Oscar squeezed through the doorway behind them. When George reached the steps, Oscar began his final charge, his tusks lowered to the ground and his body moving like a tank at full speed. George took the steps two at a time, tearing open the door that Jim had just run through. He stopped and stared at Oscar, his massive muscles pumping as he charged; he nearly wet himself.

David ducked down and just narrowly missed being hit by the tusk. Instead, Oscar hit the wall next to the stairs, crashing through the brick and mortar. George snapped out of his daze, ushering the remaining members into the office. David scrambled up the steps on his hands and knees, rolling into the door just as George slammed it shut. The metal door caved in as Oscar's tusk rammed against it, creating a massive dent that forced the doorjamb to shatter inward.

They backed away quickly as the second impact came, pushing the door further into the office. "Get around the corner!" David screamed, pushing himself onto his feet. Before he could get far, the third hit sent the door flying into the office. George didn't know what to think, everything became slow, he felt like he was submerged in water. His only thought was that David was dead, he had to be, that door was right behind him. Then he thought that that was good, the night was over for him, he didn't have to be afraid anymore.

Suddenly, the door hit the floor, a loud report echoed in the large waiting room. George felt someone grab him and throw him against the wall as the door whistled by his face only a few inches away. It crashed through the far wall and hit the ground outside. Mark was already pushing past George and running to David.

"David! Get away from there!" Mark ducked down and dodged a wild swipe of a tusk. He had to jump back to avoid another swipe as David tried in vain to move. He grabbed David as soon as he came into reach and began pulling him back, trying his best to avoid the random flailing of Oscar's tusk. "He's alive." Mark said as he pulled David around the corner.

"You're goddamned right I'm alive, now let me go!" David growled as he struggled free from Mark's grasp. "That thing nearly got me, thanks Mark." He gave the larger man a pat on the arm in appreciation as Mark hauled him to his feet. "I owe you a beer when this is done."

"Nah, think nothin' of it." Mark smiled and held David up with an arm around his side as David caught his breath. They were all panting hard, the train seemed too far away, but George had never wanted anything as badly as that seat he had been sitting in before this damned zoo. Limping and using the walls for support, they all made their way into the director's office.

Kevin was pacing when George walked in, he looked up and scowled at him. "Five minutes George, that's all I said, it's been ten! Look at her!" He screamed, motioning angrily at Alysaa, who _did_ look a lot worse. Her face now looked very close to deathly pale and she was swaying where she was sitting. She only had maybe another twenty minutes.

George ignored Kevin's tone and walked up to Alyssa. "Oh God, what happened to her?" Cindy cried out as she ran up next to her. George knelt down and felt her pulse. It was still beating weakly, she would need a blood transfusion if she was going to make it through the night.

"Get her wallet and give it to me." He instructed Cindy. She looked confused, but reached into Alyssa's coat and felt around until she pulled out a large leather wallet stuffed full of cards and a few bills. "Get me her donor's card, see if she has one in there, I need to know her blood type."

Cindy fished around in the wallet and withdrew a card. She handed it to George as Mark and David slipped the last few coins into the raccoon statue. There was a soft _click_ and the book case next to the desk slid over, revealing a switch. Underneath the switch was a piece of masking tape with the words _**bTrack Gate/b **_ scrawled in small blocky letters.

"Hurry, we need to get her to the hospital." George pointed at the switch and Kevin ran over to it. After flicking it, he waited, hoping something would happen. There was a faint noise, but George couldn't tell what it was exactly. "That must be the gate." He assumed aloud.

"Let's go, help me with her." Kevin hoisted Alyssa in his hands. George stood up and placed the card in his pocket for later. For now, they needed to get to the train, through the back exit.

"This way, we'll avoid the elephant if we go through the back." Yoko led them through the door and around the corner, walking through what looked like a graveyard of children's toys. They seemed to have been left where ever the children had been playing with them. Maybe they had to run when one of the zombies had come into the office, and maybe they actually got out.

"This gives me the creeps." Cindy whispered to George. "It's like the last remnants of life in this zoo are these toys. This place was built for the children, whose children are going to be coming here anymore? I feel like we're just walking through the corpse of the city I grew up in."

George didn't know what to say, so he just put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. Despite the whole night, she had a faint smell of flowers still lingering on her. A small smile found its way onto his face. He found her and she was safe.

_CRACK! _

"What was that?" Jim said shakily as the ground rumbled. "Don't tell me..."

_CRACK! _

"Shit! Run!" Jim took off, bumping into Yoko and sending her flying onto her back. The wall behind them screamed and groaned. George looked back in time to see the wood and concrete burst into the hallway and a single tusk pierce through the exterior of the building. With a curse, George shoved Cindy forward and grabbed Yoko's hand. Hauling her up, he gave her a push as well and started to run for the door.

Relentlessly, Oscar pounded the office building, sending dust and debris everywhere. He stabbed and tore at the office, ripping through furniture and destroying the children's toys. However, the distraction afforded the survivors a chance to escape out the back door without him noticing.

Kevin handed Alyssa to George as he jumped down the chest-high ledge in the locker room. Reaching up, Kevin grabbed her limp body from his hands. She was still breathing, but it was slow and shallow. "You need to help her."

"I will." George lied, there was no way to tell if he could help her at this late stage, unless the hospital he was thinking of had a full E.R. and the tools he needed. Yet, the first thing any surgeon learns is to lie to the family when it comes to making promises. They will make you promise that you will save them, no matter the chances. It's a courtesy any grieving loved one deserves, regardless of the legal risks.

Mark was the last one out, he let the door click shut quietly during Oscar's rampage. They were taking no chances with Oscar hearing them, they had a clear shot to the train and no one wanted to mess that shot up. Each one was taking extra precautions when walking, clearing away debris before taking a step or just watching for dead leaves and twigs.

As they reached the swamp, the cacophony from the office stopped. Every head perked up and looked back. "Just go; quietly." Kevin whispered.

Mark nodded and opened the door, letting Yoko through first and then everyone else before closing the door behind himself quietly. The wind whistled in the night casting imagined noises everywhere in the swamp. Bubbles frothed in the murky water, popping noisily in the silence.

Suddenly, Oscar trumpeted somewhere off in the distance, he was heading the opposite direction. A collective sigh issued from the survivors and the tension in their walks relaxed. Kevin even began to walk/jog around the water to the door that led into the cabin area. Everyone tried to match his speed while still remaining as quiet as possible.

Kevin was stopped at the door, waiting for someone to open it for him. George could feel his anxiety rolling off of him in waves and it was all directed toward him. David was the first one to the door, opening it for Kevin and letting everyone through before following in and slowly letting the door close.

They made their way around the cabin quickly, walking over the corpses of the hyenas. Around the corner, Yoko ran ahead to the door that Alyssa had unlocked on their return journey. She opened the door for Kevin and ushered everyone through. They walked into the main courtyard; Cindy gasped and David cursed.

"What happened here?" Mark asked to no one in particular. The lionesses body was still laying where they had left her, but the blood spatter had been larger than George had remembered. Kevin must have really let loose on the beast, more than George could recall. But then, not all of the blood was from that animal. That thought sunk George's mood again.

"Did you guys...?" Cindy began, but trailed off.

"Not now Cindy!" Kevin admonished her, perhaps a little too roughly. Cindy shrank back, but her back stiffened indignantly. George wanted to say something, but the thought of Alyssa laying on the ground covered in blood crept up again. "Let's just get on the train."

Before they could start, Eric stopped them. "Do you hear that?"

Pausing, they listened, but no one heard whatever Eric had thought he heard. "What was it?" David asked.

"I'm not sure, it just sounded odd. It must be the wi-" The lion leapt out from behind Eric before he could finish. It knocked him on the ground, letting out a single roar. Blood matted its mane to its body, and holes marred the surface of its body. The face, covered in blood, was a mass of scars and open sores with one missing eye. Enormous teeth were revealed as the lion pulled back its lips in a horrible snarl.

Pistols were drawn and shots were fired, but the lion was already about its work before they could stop it. With one terrible, swift bite, Eric's throat was opened and his blood squirted out onto the ground. Blood gurgled from his mouth as he writhed underneath the lion's weight. Using its massive paw, the lion swatted Eric's face, crushing it with the force of the blow. His struggling ceased instantaneously, his body just going slack as his head was turned into an indiscernible mess of brain and gore.

The lion took one bite and turned to the survivors, who were still shooting. Much like the lioness, the bullets had little effect except angering the lion. Growling deep within its throat, the lion pounced, covering more distance than should have been possible. Everyone scattered, jumping in different directions, except for Kevin who had already backed up to a reasonably safe distance with Alyssa. He placed her down carefully and pulled out his forty-five and took aim.

Fortunately, the lion wasn't focusing on any one of them, instead watching them all as a group, trying to decide which was the weakest. For a moment, its head swiveled from side-to-side, looking at each of them as they watched it back. Then, it stopped on Alyssa, she was laying there half-dead, a perfect choice.

"Don't you dare you bastard." Kevin screamed as he let out a shot that took part of the lion's face off. It stepped back with the force of the blow, and shook its head, but showed no other signs of noticing the shot. Slowly, the lion started forward toward Alyssa. "Damn you!"

Kevin let off another shot and then another, screaming and cursing at the lion. The lion pushed forward, ignoring each shot as if they were flies. "Help me!" Kevin cried to the others. They joined in, but their shots had less effect than Kevin's. "Shit, this isn't working. Someone distract it while I get Alyssa out."

"You have to be out of your mind!" Jim screamed back.

"Just do it!" Kevin turned to pick up Alyssa and the lion reacted, springing into a full run. Mark was there before the lion could get too far, jumping on it and trying to stop it. He was on the lion's back for a moment, but the lion bucked and threw him off. Hitting the ground hard, he rolled to avoid an attack that never came. The lion ignored him and started for Alyssa again. "Shit, shit, shit!"

David took something out of his pouch and threw it at the lion, hitting it in the face. George heard the wrench bounce against the stone pavement ineffectively. Kevin side-stepped one of the lion's attacks, jumping backwards with Alyssa over his shoulder for the second. Kevin couldn't last long by himself, and none of them had the firepower to stop the lion. It was too much, George had seen too many people die this night for him to see two more.

"Hey!" George screamed, waving his hands over his head. "Over here!"

The lion paused and looked at George, his arms flailing in the air, moving around and screaming. For a moment, it stared at him and considered but eventually, it turned back to Kevin and stalked forward. "Damnit." George cursed, he didn't know what to do. He wanted to distract the lion, but nothing was working.

"Guys...?" Kevin said uncertainly. "Do something..." He tightened his grip on Alyssa's legs as he backed up slowly. "Please...?"

George opened his mouth to try the distraction again, but before he could say anything, the gateway behind him blew open. A loud trumpeting signaled the worst thing George thought could have happened. Oscar walked through the rubble and swung his head from side-to-side, destroying the remaining wood from the gateway.

Growling, the lion turned from Kevin to look at Oscar. It took a step toward Oscar, letting out a loud roar, to which Oscar replied with an angry trumpet of his own. Both animals stopped, staring at each other like two cowboys in a duel.

"Get out of their way!" David screamed silently to George, who was still between both monsters. He looked around and saw that everyone had retreated from the middle of the courtyard. Quickly, he ran from where he was standing, catching both beasts' attention. Oscar charged, but the lion was right there before him. George rolled and the lion jumped over him.

With a gluttonous roar, the lion leapt at Oscar, clawing at his eyes. Oscar beat away the lion with one of his tusks, skewering it and throwing it into the glass window of one of the shops. George scrambled to his feet as the lion reappeared in the window, easily jumping through the shattered glass. Blood dripped from its stomach where Oscar had impaled it, but it showed no reaction. Lightening fast, the lion was attacking again, this time nipping at Oscar's heels.

The elephant began to stomp around, trying to get the lion underfoot, but failed with each step. Slowly, Oscar started to walk backward, trying to get the lion in front of him where he could hit it. Taking the advantage, the lion sprung upwards and tore at Oscar's exposed belly.

The fight continued, but George felt the hands pulling at him. Cindy was grabbing his jacket and trying to get him to his feet. "We have to go now, while they are distracted. Come on." George looked passed her and saw that Kevin and Jim were already half-way to the train.

George tried to ignore the animalistic grunts and the sounds of flesh being torn from behind him as he ran, but the noises permeated his resolve and fear spurned his feet to move faster. Cindy and George were the last ones to reach the train and Jim was already in the conductor's booth by the time they climbed the small steps onto the train.

"Everyone, get in your seats, this is going to be bumpy." Jim said over the loudspeaker as the train roared to life. George flew down into his seat, propelled by the sudden start of the train, he landed roughly and grunted his displeasure. However, he soon relaxed and forgave Jim the sudden start as the zoo passed away.

He knew the night was almost over. For better or worse, it was almost over.


	41. Chapter 41

Alyssa moaned and rasped out a cough as the train bounced along the tracks. George's relaxing train ride was spent running back and forth between the conductor's booth and the three-seater booth they had lain Alyssa down in. He gritted his teeth as he unwrapped her bandages and shouted instructions at Cindy. For her part, the minimal training she had as a nurse came back to her instantaneously.

She tore through the first aid kit that Kevin had found in a plastic case next to the conductor's booth and handed George the wrap of bandages he had asked her for. Carefully, George pulled Alyssa on to her side and removed her clothes with Cindy's help. Her breathing was normal, but she was fainting in and out of consciousness as he worked. As he removed the old, blood-matted, bandages he closely examined the wound. It didn't look any worse, but she had already lost a lot of blood and would need some more before she could start to recover.

"Give me that bottle of rubbing alcohol; I need to sterilize the wound again." George spread the lip of the wound on her thigh and looked inside to see if the blood was still flowing. Thankfully it was beginning to scab over, she would need some significant surgery when they got out of the city, but she would at least live that long if he could get some blood in her. "Hold her down; she's going to hate this."

David and Kevin stepped around Cindy and held Alyssa down while respectfully looking the other way. George began a count down from three and when he reached one, he sprinkled the thigh wound with a bit of the alcohol. There was an instantaneous change in Alyssa. Her breath caught and she sucked in air, her back arched and she let out a piercing cry. Her voice became ragged and hoarse as her screams subsided and her tears flowed freely.

"Please..." She managed before George sprinkled some more on the next wound. Alyssa let out another scream that sounded like a banshee's cry. Her cheeks became damp as her tears started again and her screams faded into sobs. "S...stop."

"I can't Alyssa, these weren't properly cleaned in the zoo, and if I don't do this it can get infected." George said as he shook his head. "Hold her down," he instructed the two men when he saw them loosening their grip on her.

"Just give her a break; can't you see she's in pain?" Kevin growled.

"And she'll stay in pain longer if I don't get this all out of the way now." George threw back at Kevin. "I can save her Kevin, if you'll let me do my work."

Kevin hesitated but pushed down on Alyssa's shoulder after a few moments. David averted his eyes from Alyssa's nakedness and held her firmly as George went back to his work. The bottle was empty by the time he was satisfied with the cleaning. It wasn't perfect but it would have to do. He tore the plastic wrapping off the bandages and pushed the gash in Alyssa's thigh together before starting to wrap the wound.

"George, I'm coming up on a fork, I need to know where to go!" Jim screamed from the conductor's booth. "Right or left man!"

"Where exactly are we?" George asked as he fought Alyssa's pained struggles.

"I dunno man, we're in the woods somewhere, check the map, but hurry." Jim handed Yoko the map and she ran it through to where George was working. She unfurled the paper and held it flat with her hands.

"I think we're somewhere around here." She pointed on the map after a few moments of examination. "We need to know if the hospital is over here," she traced her finger on the right trail. "Or here," she trailed it along the left.

George pinned Alyssa's leg down with his body while he started on a second layer of the bandage. "I can't see the map Yoko; just tell me what's around each path."

"George, the bandage is slipping." Cindy put her hand in and grabbed the edge of the bandage as it started to slip. "You need to make it tighter."

"I don't know I can't find any-" Yoko started, but Jim's voice cut her off.

"Hurry up man; we're coming up to the fork fast!" Jim's voice got louder with the last word. "I need to know if I have to change the track soon!"

"Then slow down!" George bellowed, he lost his grip on the bandage and it almost came loose, but Cindy was there to catch it before it could slip. George took a breath and let Cindy finish the wrapping. He turned around and looked at the map. It took him a second to realize where they were, but when he saw where Yoko was pointing, he knew which way they had to go. "Right, it's to the right."

"Aw shit, I was hoping you would say left." The train lurched as Jim pulled the lever down, the brakes screeched and the train slid to a halt a few yards away. "We need to get out and change the track, there should be a lever out there somewhere."

"We have to go out there to change it? Don't you have some knob you can turn?" Kevin asked, turning away from Alyssa. He turned back before Jim could answer and whispered something in her ear that George couldn't hear.

"Maybe when the trains were still running, I could call the operator but we have to do everything by hand. I'm amazed that the train is still running to be honest." Jim rubbed the back of his neck, eyeing the train console warily as if just mentioning it would make the train magically shut down.

"Fine, we'll just go out and look for it, we need a look out though," David stood up and walked to the front of the train as he spoke. "Yoko, can you do that? Mark you and Jim can come with me; that okay?"

Mark nodded, but Jim looked apprehensive, he reached into his pocket and George guessed he was playing with his lucky coin. David didn't wait for his reply, instead just went back to the seats and grabbed his handgun. He led the two men down the steps but let Jim lead the way from there. Yoko leaned against the metallic frame of the door. She folded her left arm and balanced her right in the crook of her left. Her own pistol was out and ready just in case.

When George was certain everything was in motion, he bent back down to Alyssa. Cindy had finished the dressing and was pulling Alyssa's pants back on. She wasn't coherent, but her breathing was returning to normal. For now, she would live, but George could see her chances dwindling faster and faster.

"She'll be fine, right?" Cindy asked while smoothing Alyssa's hair.

"I don't know."

"God damnit! How are they out here too?" David screamed. His voice was soon drowned out by the sound of sporadic gunshots.

"Don't waste ya ammo!" Mark bellowed. He had to say it again before the gunshots stopped. "If you keep that up, more will come. They're far off, nothing to worry about yet."

"You say that now and then ten more show up, then twenty, and soon we're all the main course." Jim whined. "The switch should be over here."

George listened to them work, they didn't sound far away, Jim must have stopped the train soon enough. He heard the rusted groan of the lever as they turned it. It was followed quickly by the rattle of the tracks turning ahead.

"Get back in the train; I don't want to be out here with them." David ushered the other two back.

"Are we good?" George asked as David climbed the short set of stairs into the train.

"All good Doc, it's your turn now."

George looked at Jim and then back to Alyssa. "It should be just another mile up the track. There's a dirt path before we get to the hospital and a small bridge too. I'm going to need help carrying her."

Jim got the train started while the others discussed what was going to happen when they got to the hospital.

"So, what happens if it's infested?" Yoko asked.

"We'll have to deal with it; I need a solid twenty minutes to do the suturing and proper cleaning of the wound. Hopefully they still have somewhere that's clean enough. Cindy, you're going to have to help me prepare everything, do you know anything about surgery?" George looked from Yoko to her as he asked.

"A little, I think I remember something from a week in the trauma ward. I don't know how much I can promise you though; we didn't go too in depth with anything like this."

"It will have to do, listen," George turned to the others, "I need you to keep anything that might be in there away while Cindy and I work on Alyssa, this is important."

"Nothing will get in, you'll be fine, and she'll be fine." Kevin said the last looking at Alyssa.

"George, look out the window, is this it?" Jim called form the booth.

George stood and walked to a window, outside the trees went by in a blur. They all looked the same and he had been here a long time ago. He stared out and looked for the antiquated outhouse next to the administrator's cabin. What was his name, Albert? Alan? It started with an 'A', George could remember that.

The outhouse flew by, followed closely (Alan/Albert used to say that it wasn't close at all when you needed it) by the cabin. The stop would be only another few seconds away; Jim needed to stop now.

"Stop!" George screamed and regretted it almost instantly when he flew forward over the seat in front of him. Pain shot through his shoulder and he felt something smack against him, he heard a cry of surprise. When the world stopped moving he was on top of both Kevin and Cindy, he lay between them groaning. He apologized and carefully got back to his feet. "Damnit Jim, slow down from now on, _you're_ going to kill us."

"Sorry man, but you said stop." Jim looked out the windshield and cursed. "Stopped short, hold on a sec, I'll get us up to the hospital."

They were only a few hundred yards from the hospital, but in between the train and the hospital was a dense forest of trees and a winding pathway. Jim started to push on the throttle, but the train didn't move. "Aw, shit no. This can't be happening, not now."

"What's wrong?" Kevin asked as he offered Cindy a hand up.

"The train's not responding."

"What!" Kevin growled.

"I think I can fix it, but I'm going to need Handyman's help." Jim pointed to David.

"I fix toilets and sinks, not trains."

"Same shit, different books. I can fix it, but I've seen what you can do with ordinary things, I'll need you to make whatever we don't have here." Jim reached next to him into a cabinet and pulled out an orange bag.

"That I can do."

"We might need you inside though." Kevin said.

"You want an extra hand in there, or do you want to be able to get out of here when you leave?" Jim asked matter-of-factly.

"Whatever, are we ready?" Kevin looked back to George.

"If either you or Mark wouldn't mind helping me with her we can go." George wrapped Alyssa's arm around his shoulder. Kevin bent down on her other side and took some of Alyssa's weight.

"Can she walk?" Kevin grunted as they stood up.

"Not likely, she's passed out from the pain right now, I'd like to give her an anesthetic when we get in there, but I don't think we can risk her being out of it tonight."

"Fine, I'll carry her then, you go on lead the way." Kevin took Alyssa from George and pulled her into his arms, one under her shoulders and the other under her knees. George led them out of the train and along the tracks for a few feet until he came to a small path. The overgrowth was just beginning to reclaim it, so he had to stamp down a few plants before starting off.

It took them the better part of ten minutes to find the cabin, but when they did the memories came flooding back to George. Al, that was his name, he'd run the hospital in its heyday, but a few months ago the mayor shut it down. Budget cuts seemed to hit only the most necessary places when the city needs money for other things. With the hospital shut down, George prayed that they still had all of the necessary machinery and supplies for his surgery on Alyssa. Al lived in the cabin still from what George could remember.

Everything seemed quiet, but there was one light in the cabin that flickered through the window. George walked up to the window and looked inside. He could see what looked like someone sitting in an old comforter by the fireplace. The person was facing the opposite direction, but George thought it might be Al. He tried the door but it was locked. He knocked on the door and waited impatiently, knocking a second time when no one answered. After the third knock, something moved inside.

"Get ready." Mark said.

"I know." George stepped back. By now, they could hear the footsteps getting closer to the door, a slow shuffling gait.

The door creaked loudly and popped as it was pulled open. A sickly looking old man stood in the doorway. The dull gray of his skin at first made George think that he had turned, and he even began to pull his gun up out of fright, but the old man spoke.

"George?" He squinted and leaned in. "George! What are you doing here? Do you know what's going on?"

"All too well Al, can we come in for a minute?" George pointed back at his companions. Al pulled the door open further and peered behind George. His eyes scanned the group and paused for a moment on Alyssa. He sucked his lip into his mouth and gummed it for a second while he thought.

"Okay, but don't disturb Martha, she's been testy since all of this started." He opened the door fully and stepped back. George led the others into the small two story cabin, the furnishings were sparse, a single love seat, a table with a picture of a little blind girl in front of the hospital displayed on it, and a large box of sticks for the fire place. There were rooms beyond the living room, but George didn't want to explore the cabin, especially if Martha was upset. He remembered her; she was a hurricane in the hospital. Al was the caretaker, but Martha would give anyone hell if they stepped out of line.

"Thank you Al, but I need to ask you for another favor." George began. "I need to get into the hospital, my friend Alyssa needs some medical attention, and I need a place to work on her."

Al was gumming his lip again as he considered. He was staring at Alyssa again, she groaned, and her dressings were starting to leak again. "I can't, it's not safe."

"I know it's not safe Al, but right now, nowhere is safe. She'll die if I don't help her."

"You can help her here." Al motioned to the floor of his cabin.

"Do you have a way I can cauterize her wounds? Some surgical glue I can't see? Al, I need to get her into the hospital, I know you, you would have kept it stocked even after it was shut down. Please." He nearly whispered at the end.

"George it's not safe, I can't let you in there, you don't know." Al looked to have mentally left the little cabin; he was seeing the ghost of something he had seen that night.

"I _do_ know, Al I've been all over the city tonight, and I don't plan to let her die. I'm going in, with or without your permission, this is too important. I would like to use your key, but we can break down the door if we have to."

Al shook his head slightly. He frowned and cocked his head to the side as if what George was saying didn't make sense. After a moment, he turned and walked over to the table. He pulled open a drawer, took out a small key, and placed it on the table. Before turning around, he turned the picture down on the table.

George walked over to him and took the key, placing it into his jacket pocket. He placed a hand on Al's back, the old man didn't want to look at him, and instead he stared at the floor. "Thank you Al, we'll be back for you, we're getting out of the city."

"I can't leave Martha." Al's head shot up; his eyes betraying a terror that George couldn't describe, it was almost…feral.

"You won't, we'll take both of you." George rubbed the man's shoulder reassuringly.

"You don't understand."

"Al, I have to go to the hospital, we'll be back for you, get yourself ready." George turned and motioned the others back through the cabin door.

"Be careful George, you don't know what you're getting yourself into." Al's voice floated hauntingly through the door as George was closing it.

"He's frigging creepy." Kevin hefted Alyssa up on his arms carefully.

"He's scared." Cindy said.

"Even still, can we just get out of here?" Kevin bounced Alyssa in his arms. "She's not doing too well, remember?"

George nodded and started them on the trail to the hospital. He led them single file into the woods on a small game trail that Al had showed him one day when he was still volunteering out here a few months back. The trail had overgrown since he had been here last. Al usually kept the trail well maintained, but it looked as if he'd stopped that particular duty weeks -if not months- ago. However, through the large ferns and thorn bushes, the barest hint of a trail remained and George could follow it. He wasn't worried because he knew that eventually the tiny trail they were on would lead into a well traveled, and wider, hiking trail that would take them to the side entrance of the hospital.

"Can someone keep the plants off me; I can't carry her and clear a path at the same time." Kevin complained.

"Ah got you partner." Mark said from the back of the line and switched places with Kevin. His bulk proved effective at pushing the plants away from Kevin. "Better?"

"Much, thanks man."

It only took a few more minutes until they spilled out onto the hiking trail. The trail snaked around the woods coming to a stop at a small pedestrian bridge. While the bridge appeared sturdy, George felt uneasy about how it swayed with the wind.

"Wait here for a moment." George said without looking back. He took a measured step onto the bridge, the wood creaked under his weight and the bridge leaned in the direction of where he had taken the step, but otherwise it held. "Why don't we take it one-at-a-time?"

When George was across, he beckoned Cindy to follow. She took the bridge in three cautious steps and was holding onto George's arm while Kevin shakily took his turn. George let out a soft sigh as Mark took the final step onto solid ground.

"Okay, the hospital should be right around the-." George fell silent. "Did you hear that?"

A few yards down, the ferns rustled and a moan announced the presence of a lone zombie. He emerged onto the trail stumbling gracelessly onto the path. George raised his pistol and took aim, but didn't fire. This zombie was different, but George couldn't see why right away. Then he saw the plants.

Growing out the back of the zombie's head was a large flower, purple in color with the head reaching about the size of a cantaloupe. It bobbed up and down as the zombie shuffled closer.

"What is that?" Cindy asked. "Is it…infected?"

"I don't know, and I don't want to find out, George shoot it." Kevin said.

As if he were only waiting for permission, George squeezed the trigger. The first shot went wide and struck a tree behind the zombie, but the second found its mark right below the zombie's right eye. Its head reared back and some sort of bloody mixture squirted out the exit wound.

"Did they morph or something?" Mark asked.

"They can't have evolved that rapidly, there must be something else wrong here, and we need to be careful." George said as he skirted by the corpse lying in the middle of the path. The hospital was only a short distance from the bridge and there were only two more of those strange zombies along the trail. While the colors of the plants were different, the zombies looked very similar. George began to worry about what they might find in the hospital. Was Al's warning more than just about the zombies?

He was starting to wonder if bringing Alyssa here was such a good idea.


	42. Chapter 42

George regretted ignoring Al's advice as soon as he stepped through the hospital's side entrance. Vines grew along the walls, covering almost every inch of the once white wallpaper. They shifted and moved like a chest rising and falling with each breath. Thriving and feeding off the moisture in the air their; touch on the world was already showing with a dusty brown residue flanking each vine. The hospital groaned as the door swung shut only to be covered over by the oddly sentient vines.

"Holy shit, what the hell are those things?" Kevin asked. He moved further into the hospital to avoid the vines that now blocked their exit. "Did they just…?"

"Yes, and I think we better move." Mark said. Making a shooing motion, Mark herded the group into a long corridor. Medical supplies lay strewn haphazardly, but a few feet from where they stood a pile of wheelchairs and moveable beds blocked their path.

"Cindy, can I borrow a handkerchief?" George bent down and looked at an overturned gurney; it was covered in some sort of clear gooey liquid. She gave him the handkerchief silently. Tentatively, George scraped a layer of the goo from the gurney. Before George could finish the scraping motion, two of the vines peeled away from the wall and snatched at where his hand was. George pulled his hand away, just narrowly missing the vines. The vines slowly wrapped around the gurney and pulled it toward the wall where it was added to the intricate pattern of vines.

"I think we better stay away from the walls." Cindy said.

As George stood up, Cindy's hand found his. He gave her a reassuring squeeze and pulled her back from the debris. "There should be some stairs over here."

"Where are we going? Is it close?" Kevin asked.

"It's on the other side of the hall, but if I remember correctly there is another set of stairs on the other side. We just have to go up and around."

"What if those plants are in the examination room?" Mark asked.

"We'll have to deal with them then, so let's just focus on our current problems and worry about that when the time comes." George let go of Cindy's hand and led them up the stairs. Unfortunately, the second floor looked much like the first. Discarded medical equipment was scattered on the floor, but luckily, none of it prevented their progress. George skirted the walls and continued down the hall to the first turn. Before he turned, he stopped. What if the door was locked?

"What's wrong?" Cindy asked. She placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I think we should go to Al's office first, the keys to the hospital might be there, and we may need them." George said.

"Shit, do we really have the time for that?" Kevin adjusted Alyssa in his arms. "She's breathing pretty shallowly."

"Why don't you take Alyssa down to the examination room? Down this hall should be a set of stairs, take them and then go straight, you should see a set of lockers. The door next to the lockers is the examination room. We'll meet you there in a few minutes." George looked to Mark. "Can you go with him?"

"Of course."

Kevin looked like he was about to say something, but shook his head and started down the hall. Mark waved to George and Cindy, and followed Kevin. George waited until he saw them find the stairwell and turned to Cindy.

"Can you keep a secret?"

Cindy looked curiously at George and nodded.

"I'm scared."

"We all are; it's been a pretty terrifying night."

George shook his head and started walking toward Al's office. "No, that's not what I mean. I might kill her Cindy. She could die because of me."

"She _will_ die without you." Cindy's hand was back on his shoulder; she squeezed comfortingly.

"I know that, but even in ideal conditions I haven't had a good surgery in months. I just don't know; I don't know if I could survive the night knowing I killed her." He felt the tears coming hot and fast, his face burned, but he willed them away. Yet, there was a catch in his voice as he continued. "I don't want her to die."

He felt Cindy's hand on his back moving in a smooth circle. She placed her head on his shoulder. "I know George, but you have to do it, it's the only way. I wish it didn't happen; I wish she was fine, but you have to get in there and fix her."

George nodded, but was silent as they approached Al's office. There were no markings announcing his office only a large frosted glass window that covered half of the door. George tried the knob and it opened onto a small waiting room. A single cushioned bench on the far side of the waiting room, adorned with ripped magazines, and a dying house plant were the room's only decorations. They quickly crossed the short distance to his office door and tried to open it. The knob jiggled, but the door remained closed.

"Damn it!" George screamed. He pounded his fist on the door.

"It was worth a try, but it's locked; we have to get downstairs now."

"And if the examination room is locked?"

Cindy threw her hands in the air and let them slap against her thighs. "Then we'll break the door down. I know it's a lot to ask George, but you need to calm down if she's going to have a chance."

He saw the sense in her words; he wasn't going to be much help if he couldn't concentrate. He wanted to calm down, he _tried_ to calm down, but he couldn't. The past few weeks were horrifying, he'd lost two patients within two days, and barely made it through the other four surgeries without doing more harm than good. All of those surgeries were done in sterile environments and without any mutated/sentient plants to contend with. He didn't voice any of these concerns though; he simply nodded and crossed through the still open door.

The walk to the stairwell felt shorter than it should have, his heart pounded in his chest, and his stomach rolled like a ship on turbulent waters. He descended the stairs while trying to keep the nagging voice in the back of his mind at bay. _You're worthless; if you touch her, she'll die. Remember the GSW you got three days ago? Same shit different day._

George wanted to run, part of him wished the door would be locked and that they couldn't get it open. Alyssa might be able to survive the night if they got her to a real surgeon in a couple of hours. A couple of hours was too long, she'd die, and he knew it.

They reached the bottom of the stairs and Cindy opened the door. The hallway beyond was empty except for the lockers and the ever present plant life. The door must have been unlocked; he had no excuses. His fears were confirmed when the door opened after he turned the knob.

"Thank God for small favors." Cindy said.

Alyssa lay in one of the two untouched beds. The sheets were stripped from the bed and were in a pile next to Kevin, who was pacing back and forth. "It's about time you got here; I don't like the look of her."

His concerns were founded, Alyssa shivered despite sweat beading all over her body. George put his hand against her forehead, she felt cold and wet like a cadaver in a broken refrigerator. He placed his first two fingers against her neck; her pulse was weak and tentative. He shortened his initial "couple of hours" estimate to one hour. She needed blood too. It was all going to shit very fast.

"What the hell is happening to her George?" Kevin asked. "How can you fix her?"

"It's not that simple, she's lost a lot of blood. Do you know her type?" George asked.

"Hell if I know, why does that matter?" Kevin frowned even as he asked. "Never mind, can't you figure that out?"

"Yes, if I had the materials at my disposal, but I don't. It doesn't matter now anyway, are any of you O negative?"

"How are we supposed to know that?" Kevin was nearly screaming.

"If you've given blood recently, they would have given you a card, look for that." George reached into his wallet and took out his card. "I'm A negative, so I can't giver he blood, but O negative is the universal donor, almost everyone can take O negative."

They spent a moment looking for the cards. Kevin cursed. "Shit, I'm O positive, will that work?"

"I can't take the risk, it's O negative or we search for bags of blood in this hospital." George said.

"Sorry, I'm AB positive." Cindy said.

"Wait, look here partner," Mark showed Kevin his card, "looks like we're in luck."

Kevin wrapped his arms around Mark, who looked shocked, but patted Kevin's back. "Where do you need me doc?"

George sighed; he wasn't sure if it was out of happiness or disappointment. "Not yet, we need to get her leg sewn up first. Kevin, look in all of the drawers around here, I need to find surgical glue; it should look like super glue, but smell better." George pointed around the room at all of the moveable tables and fixed drawers. "Cindy, I need you to find and sterilize a sewing needle and some medical thread, there should be some in that drawer there." He pointed and she went. "Mark, look around for rubbing alcohol, there's got to be plenty here still."

After giving his orders, George began to strip Alyssa's clothes away, leaving her in only her underwear. He spread the lip of the wound on her thigh apart gently and evaluated the damage. Inside, he could see it better, and it wasn't as bad as he thought it was, but she was still in danger. The matches weren't meant to stop the blood flow only slow it, and the scabbing hadn't begun yet. He'd have to re-clean the wound and glue it together first before he could sew her up.

Mark was the first to come back; he had one full bottle and one that was nearly empty. It would have to do. George unscrewed the cap on the full bottle and splashed a measured dose into the wound. Alyssa groaned, but otherwise did not move.

Kevin placed three small tubes of surgical glue on the table next to George. "Are these what you were looking for?"

George nodded and took the first one. He started to glue the area where blood was still flowing. After going through the first tube and most of the second, the last bit of blood trickled out of the wound and stopped. He looked up from his work and saw Cindy passing the needle through a flame from Kevin's lighter and then dipping the needle into the alcohol. She threaded the suture through the needle and gave it to George. He thanked her and told her to hold the wound closed.

After a moment of consideration, George began a criss-cross pattern that looped back around on itself to seal the wound together. With her thigh treated, George rolled Alyssa on to her stomach and began work on the scratches in her back. Using one of the scrub brushes from the medical kit he procured from the city hospital, he cleaned the cuts of debris and splashed them with rubbing alcohol. He sealed them with what remained of the second tube of surgical glue and sewed them up as well.

The whole procedure took less than ten minutes, but it felt like hours to George. With Alyssa in relatively stable condition, he stripped off his own shirt and looked at the claw marks on his chest. The bandage was already damp with blood and sweat, but the marks weren't deep. He asked Cindy to clean them, and then he used the last tube of surgical glue to stick the flaps of skin back together before wrapping a fresh bandage from the medical kit around his chest.

"Is she going to make it now?" Kevin asked while Cindy finished wrapping the bandages.

"She still needs blood and that's going to take a while." George said as he rolled a chair next to Alyssa's bed. "I need someone to find two needles -the kind used to draw blood- and some surgical tubing. If you can, find me something that I can tie into a tourniquet."

Cindy found the needles right away, but it took longer to find the surgical tubing and a strip of thin rubber for the tourniquet. George sterilized the needle and had Mark sit next to him. "I can't judge for you how much blood you can stand to lose, so you're going to have to do that for yourself. I can, however, tell you that she needs a lot, so go for as long as you can before pulling that needle out of your arm."

"I understand." Mark rolled up his sleeve and held his arm out. He looked sheepishly at the needle and looked away. "I can't stand these things, it'll be better if I don't look. You won't tell anyone right?"

"Not a word from me." George smiled, tied the strip of rubber onto Mark's bicep, and tapped two fingers against the crook of his arm. "I need you to make a big fist and then squeeze it, let go, and squeeze it again. Good, now just keep doing that."

George looked for a vein in Mark's arm but couldn't find it, he tapped his fingers against Mark's arm again and searched. When he thought he found one, George pushed the needle into Mark, and missed the vein. "Shit! I'm sorry, I haven't done this in years, and I'm really rusty."

"It's alright George, just try to keep me in one piece." Mark feigned a laugh, but it came out as a moan.

George took a second try and the needle slid off the vein. "God damn it!"

"George, let me try," Cindy took his hand. "It's like trying to pierce a wet noodle, right? We had just finished our practice sessions at the clinic; I think I can do this."

He gave a sigh and put the needle in her hand. "I'm sure you'd do a better job than I am anyway. I was never good at drawing blood, even in med school."

She flashed him her smile and sat in the seat he offered to her. It took her a minute to locate the vein, and when she did, she carefully stuck the needle into Mark's arm. Slowly, Cindy pushed down into his arm and stuck the vein. A small drop of blood escaped the needle and Cindy stopped it with her thumb. "I got it!"

"Great job; now, I'll take that," George replaced his finger with Cindy's, "and you go and stick Alyssa."

While Cindy bent over Alyssa and tried to pierce a vein, George covered the needle with the surgical tubing some blood squirted out, but there wasn't any suction to draw the blood out, so it pooled slightly in the tube. When Cindy got the needle in Alyssa's arm, George walked over to her and sucked on the end of the tube. The vacuum sucked Mark's blood out of his arm and into the tube. George quickly fitted the tube over the needle in Alyssa's arm and completed the connection.

"Thank God that worked. This is going to take a while, so I think it's best if we look around and see if we can find another route out of here." George paused to see if anyone would voice a complaint and continued when no one did. "I think Cindy and I should go, and Kevin, you can keep Mark and Alyssa safe while we're out. Anyone disagree? Good, I'm going to go check for some more supplies in the back room over there." He pointed to the only other door in the room beside the one they came in and walked to it. Inside, the supply room was larger than he expected. Two metal shelves held most of the supplies to his left while built-in wall shelves held a combination of files and patient notes.

"Hey George," Cindy said as she followed him into the supply room; she waited for the door to close before continuing. "What's wrong?"

"I just didn't want to be in the room anymore, I still might have screwed something up." He passed a hand through his hair and looked at the shelves.

"But she's fine now; you did a great job in there."

"I won't know if something's wrong for a couple of hours now. She could rip her stitches, or the glue might not hold and she could bleed internally. There's so much that can still go wrong and I won't know for hours. Hell, I could have infected her with any number of infections. Staph is in the top of my list, but-"

Cindy cut him off with a hug. "George, calm down, she'll be fine, you did what you could under the circumstances. I'm proud of you."

At first, he stood woodenly, unsure what to do, but when he felt her warmth against him, he wrapped his arms around her. She was shorter than he was, and she felt small in his arms, yet she had more courage in her small frame than he could ever muster. That night was hell, but in the supply room, it didn't feel so bad.

She let go of him all too quickly, he felt a void where she had been against him. He smiled and thanked her, but he didn't feel any better. Turning to his task, George began taking whatever he could find to refill the medical kit. Bandages were sorely needed, so he took three rolls, antiseptic lotions and sprays were next and other supplies followed. He stopped when he saw another medical kit and handed his to Cindy. It was almost full and having two would be welcome.

As they made their way around the room stocking up on whatever supplies George pointed at, Cindy stopped and walked over to a desk in the back corner of the room. The pathway of shelves dead-ended at the desk, making the office space feel more cramped than it was. The desk was bare except for a syringe filled with a gelatinous green liquid and a note. Cindy picked up the note and read it aloud.

_"Al,_

_ I don't know what they are, but those Goddamn plants are growing everywhere. That nature guy looked at them and said he'd get back to me, but I can't work like this. Something needs to be done about them. I've made this little concoction out of a bunch of different weed killers and some of my own personal recipes. It seems to kill them for a while, the sprouts always die, but they just keep coming. It's enough to drive a woman insane. I'm going up to the roof, I think they might have gotten into the ventilation system, and I mean to get them out. I've left you a syringe of the stuff here, and there's a whole tub of it in the basement. You need to inject it into them, for some reason it won't kill them unless you do. Love you dear._

_ Dorothy."_

She looked up from the note and shrugged. "I guess we know what we have to do. There's got to be some main part of the plant that we can inject this stuff into. We should get as much of that plant killer as we can."

"We should check out the roof too, if Dorothy thought it was worth looking into, then we should too. That plant might be up there for all we know." George swung the new medical kit over his shoulder. "Come on, the faster we get out, the faster we get to the police station."

Kevin looked up as they came back into the examination room. George held the syringe so Kevin and Mark could see. "I think we might have found a solution to our plant problem. Dorothy made a plant and weed killer cocktail that supposedly worked."

"So we can just, what, spray the door there and kill the weeds to leave?" Kevin sounded hopeful.

"I don't know, right now we only have this syringe, and I don't want to waste it unnecessarily. We're going downstairs where there's supposedly more, and then we can try whatever we want. Stay here with her for the time being, Cindy and I will be back."

"Mark please remember to keep the pressure up on your arm, and make sure that needle doesn't come out, if it does either you'd have to wait for me to come back or try yourself, which I wouldn't recommend." Cindy smiled apologetically. "We shouldn't be too long."

"I'll be careful." Mark said; he wrapped his free hand around the needle in his arm.

George nodded. "Good, Kevin, Alyssa might wake up while we're gone, you need to keep her calm and keep that needle in her arm as long as Mark can handle it." He placed his medical kit down. "There are cotton balls and band-aids in there to stop the bleeding when you pull the needles out. Only use them if we aren't here when Mark needs to stop."

Kevin walked over to the medical kit and took it. He grabbed George's arm. "Thank you."

George patted his hand, but didn't say anything. He walked over to the door that led out into the hallway. "Don't open the door for anyone but us, okay?"

The door swung shut behind them, followed quickly by the door's lock sliding into place. It had a certain finality that gnawed at George's stomach. Their touch to safety was tenuous at best, but he almost felt secure with the others around him, and every time the group separated, a tiny hammer of doubt smashed cracks into that façade of safety. Too many times that night George walked up to the line between life and death and straddled it, daring himself to lose balance.

"Where should we go first?" Cindy asked.

He opened his mouth and closed it; a soft creaking noise on the other side of the debris barricade caught him by surprise. Footsteps and then _slam_. The report was so loud the plants shuttered against the wall. There was a moment of silence where George almost thought he had imagined the whole thing. However, the footsteps continued soon after, and the plants continued to shake. They shook, and shook, and shook. A few vines peeled away from the wall and whipped around; the motion was more like blind exploration than an attack.

_ Thump. Squish._

_ Thump. Squish._

_ Thump. Squish._

In the quiet hallway, the two noises created a cacophony that threatened to tear through the thinning veil of composure to which George clung. His breath caught in his throat each time he tried to inhale. Somewhere, in the analytical part of his brain, he wondered if this was what an asthmatic felt during an attack.

He wasn't prepared for what eventually did emerge from behind the wall. The man stopped in the middle of the intersection, an axe propped against his shoulder. He turned his hooded head toward where George and Cindy stood frozen, and then followed through with the rest of his body. The eyes that peered from underneath the black fabric searched out and assessed the situation. The axe-man looked down at the debris in front of him, and then to the plants along the wall.

Without hesitation, he reached up and grabbed one of the vines. It writhed in his hand, but he seemed not to notice as he rubbed the vine along his naked chest. The vine stopped struggling and began leaking the gooey clear liquid that covered everything else. Tentatively, more vines peeled away from the walls with an audible sucking noise. One vine wrapped around the axe and pulled it into the air. Quickly, the axe-man began to disappear underneath the vines. The whole process took only moments, but the axe-man was swathed in crawling vines. He wore them like a living suit of armor.

As if they exploded, the vines retracted from him, leaving a dome of emptiness between them and him. The goo sluiced from hood to boot as he held his hand out. The vine that had taken his axe placed it back in his hand and retreated to the wall. He took a step forward-

- and the vines reacted. One-by-one the vines moved the wheel chairs and gurneys. Metal and cloth flew around as the debris cleared. Floating just over head, the medical equipment hovered in the grasp of the vines. The axe-man stalked toward George and Cindy.

"Go upstairs; find a way to the roof." George pushed Cindy toward the stairwell and was off. He ran straight at the axe-man. His mind was racing faster than he thought possible. Within the span of a few milliseconds, his plan had been made. Kevin and Mark couldn't be bothered, that meant distracting the axe-man. One person could do that easier than two.

The axe-man stopped for a moment as George sped toward him. He took an uncertain half-step back, but stopped, raised his axe up and brought it down. George let his feet slide forward, and fell. The axe flew just over head as he slid across the floor. He bounced once, and stopped short of the intersection. He was scrambling to his feet when the axe-man spun around and struck again. Fortunately, the axe went wide and hit the wall well above George's head causing a small explosion of plaster to rain down. Covering his head, George cried out and rolled away from the axe-man. The metal blade smashed into the floor.

George crawled as fast as he could manage, he could _feel_ the blade crashing through the concrete behind him with each attack. With a grunt, George pushed himself to his feet and took a lumbering first step toward the doorway at the end of the hall. He hazarded a look behind him and saw that the exit was once again covered in an intricate pattern of vines. The axe-man side stepped into view and hefted his axe. He raised the axe above his head and roared as he started to charge. George turned back to the door and sprinted. It took him three vaulting strides, but he reached the door, and when he did he tore it open and slammed it closed behind him.

A heartbeat later, the doorframe shook as the axe-man collided into it. George held the handle tightly and looked around. He saw another door a few feet from where he was; he thought it might be the locker room. The knob twisted in his grasp painfully. An exasperated growl came from the other side of the door.

_Bang._ The door shook violently. _Bang_. George grimaced, it wouldn't hold for long, he would have to move. George tried to remember the layout of the hospital, but all he could remember were some stairs nearby and the locker room. If he could hide in the locker room, maybe the axe-man will think to look down the stairs. However, if he was found, he'd be trapped. _Bang. Bang. Bang._

It would have to do.

George waited for one more slam against the door and jumped away from the door. He landed and immediately started to run for the locker room. Without him holding the door, he could only pray that it held out for one more hit. It did, and he was able to get into the locker room before the door broke open.

Inside the room, George saw two rows of lockers lining either side of the room with two sets of benches in front of either row of lockers. There were a few left open so George chose the nearest one and quietly shut the door. He heard the hallway door break open as he climbed into the locker. In the quiet of the locker, he could hear everything, his breathing, his heart beating, the blood pounding in his ears, and even the axe-man's footsteps directly outside of the locker room.

The footsteps hesitated outside of the door; George imagined the axe-man was deciding where he had gone. Should he check the locker room? Or had George run down stairs? The axe-man hesitated for only a moment, and opened the locker room door. George almost cried out when the door opened.

Through the slits in the locker, George could see the axe-man's feet as he walked into the room. He took a few steps, stopped, turned, and walked up to the first locker on the other side of the room. He tried the door and it opened. Dirty shirts spilled out onto the visible area in front of George's locker. The axe-man moved to the next one in the line. He tried the door, but upon finding it locked, the axe-man swung his axe at the door. A series of loud bangs enveloped the room as the axe-man attacked the locker. George heard the rattling of the locker as the axe-man tried futilely to open it.

His footsteps began again; his feet soon coming into view, and then passing out of view again. The axe-man walked back and forth in front of the lockers on the other side of the room. He jiggled the handles and checked any that were unlocked, but left the locked ones alone. George had an idea. He carefully looked around for something to stick in the hole to give the illusion that his locker was locked. The axe-man finished with the other side of the room.

There had to be something he could use, a pencil, a pen, or something. Step. Step. Step. He was getting closer. George felt his pockets; did he leave his keys in his pockets when he changed? No. They would have jingled anyway. Something from the medical kit? No, he left that with Kevin. _Shit, shit, shit, he's going to find me_.

_Click._ Another door opened underneath the axe-man's hand, two down from George. He had nothing he could use? _Nothing?_ There must be something, he was going to be trapped. _Click._ One down.

The axe-man's bulk came into view; he reached for the handle. George panicked; he did the only thing he could think to do: he shoved his pinky into the hole. The metal handle slid up and clamped down, the bone shifted and rubbed painfully. George bit down on his lip and tried to ignore the pain. The axe-man tried the handle twice more before giving up and moving to the next locker.

Shaking, George took his pinky out from the hole, gingerly; he felt the tip and hoped it wasn't broken. It wasn't, but there was going to be a mighty bruise. He waited while the axe-man checked the last of the lockers. When every locker was checked, the axe-man gave the locker room one last look and left into the hall. George waited a few minutes and then stepped out of the locker.

Clothing lay strewn across the floor, and the locker that would not open was dented so that the door touched the back of the locker. George shivered thinking about what would have happened if the axe-man decided to do that to the locker he had occupied. He crossed the room, careful not to slip on any clothing and opened the door a crack. The hall was empty, and George couldn't tell if the axe-man went downstairs or-

Someone was coming up the stairs. George quietly closed the door and made his way back to the locker, but did not get in it. The footsteps got louder and louder until they were right outside of the locker room door. The axe-man passed in front of the door and continued out into the main hallway. The door opened and closed, and the axe-man passed from George's hearing. He hoped that he would leave Kevin and Mark alone, but George couldn't do anything about that now. He had his task and he intended to complete it.

Quickly, George left the locker room and crossed the hall to the stairs that led into the basement. Before descending, George tried the door next to the stairs labeled b**Auxiliary Building/b**; it was locked. He made a mental note about it and started down the stairs. As he walked, George noticed that the vines began to thicken, both in number and in girth. When he reached the bottom step, George had to balance between two tree trunk sized vines in the middle of the steps.

While the vines were getting thicker, they seemed to react less than the ones above. Instead of moving, they were stationary; instead of attacking as he brushed by, they merely shifted; and instead of leaking the gooey substance, they were dry. George turned sideways and shimmied between the two vines that he was starting to believe were roots and not vines. He came to a door, but the smaller vines were blocking the doorway. For a moment, he considered using the syringe on one of the vines, but decided against it when he saw another large root blocking his path farther down the hall.

The root he saw pulsed and moved under his touch. George took the needle from his pocket and took off the plastic cap. He wasn't sure how much it would take to kill the root, but he hoped the whole syringe was enough. He punctured the root in a knot half way through the length of the root. George slid the needle back out and waited.

For a few moments nothing happened, he began to worry that Dorothy's solution either wasn't strong enough, or was made incorrectly. However, a minute later, the root began writhing and the pulsing quickened. The root shrunk before George, it retracted from the wall and squirted a thin clear liquid, much like the goo except less solid. As it pulled away from the wall, the root split in half and fell limply to the floor.

With his path now clear, George rounded the corner in front of him. The roots thinned out here, it was a short walk to the room where George thought Dorothy might have kept her solution. His suspicions seemed to be correct. The roots and vines completely stopped at the edge of the door.

"This looks like a good sign." George muttered as he opened the door. Inside, the room looked almost identical to the other supply room, except it was larger. Rows of shelves lined the walls, with more shelving making a pathway in the middle of the room. George took a step into the room and heard the moan.

His pistol was out in an instant, he'd been getting used to not having to worry about the zombies. Other than the ones on the path, he hadn't seen one in the hospital yet. The shuffling started soon after he walked into the room. It was coming.

George waited for it, he'd gotten good at this, as long as there was only one and he had the time, he could kill a zombie easily. Thankfully, there was only one and he killed it with two shots, the first one only grazed the zombie's head, but the second one hit its mark. The zombie's head snapped back and he fell against the shelves.

"God, I'll never be able to forget this night." George stepped around the zombie's body and continued into the back of the room where there was a large glass container of green liquid. George took a few glass vials from the shelf next to him and turned the faucet on the glass container. After filling the vials, George refilled the syringe, and took another syringe from the shelves and filled it as well. "I hope that's enough."

George placed the syringes in his pocket and put the extra vial of the solution in his inside pocket. He had to get back to Cindy; maybe she found a way to the roof. George crossed the room, and walked between the shelves where he had killed the zombie. His foot caught on the zombie's leg and sent him stumbling forward.

_Jingle_.

He caught himself before he fell, using the wall as a stopper. George turned back to the zombie. Did he hear something? Using his foot, George shook the zombie.

_Jingle. Jingle._

George crouched down and opened the zombie's coat. He shook one side and then the other.

_Jingle_.

Inside of the lab coat was a set of keys. Many of them looked personal, but a few piqued George's interest. One was to the locker room, another to one of the patient rooms on the third floor, but the third one was the most exciting. The key had masking tape around the head that read: b**Auxiliary Building/b**. That might come in handy soon; George thought if there were a way to the roof then the Auxiliary Building would be their best option.

He retraced his steps through the root infested hallway and back upstairs, keeping watch for the axe-man. He went through the outer hallway and into the main hallway, through the once blocked section and up to the examination room. George knocked.

"Who is it?" Kevin called from the other side.

"It's George; is Cindy back yet?"

Kevin opened the door and let him in. Cindy rushed forward and threw her arms around him. He embraced her in kind. She stepped back and punched him in the arm.

"Are you an idiot? What were you thinking?" She asked, obviously hurt.

"I had to distract him; we all would have been cornered if I didn't." George rubbed his arm; the punch hadn't been playful. "Did you find a way up to the roof upstairs?"

"No, sorry, I looked, but there's nothing useful up there." Cindy frowned.

"That's okay; I think I might have found one anyway." George held the king ring so she could see. He turned to Mark. "How're you doing?"

"It's taking a while George, how long do you think until she's up?" Mark asked.

"I don't know; it could be a long time. Just keep going until you can't." George slipped the key back into his pocket. "Come on, we should go take a look at the roof."

They left with a promise to return as soon as possible, and made their way through the hallways to the Auxiliary Building door. George used the taped key to unlock the door and opened it. The door opened into a smaller hallway. There were only two exits that George could see, one to his right that led to a set of stairs that went up, and to the left was a doorway that led back into another part of the hallways they had just come from. Cindy started off to the stairs, but George caught her wrist.

"Cindy, look, over by the door." George pointed.

"Oh! I haven't seen those in a little while." Cindy sounded excited as she took out her herb case. She walked over to the two green herbs and plucked them from their pots. She flattened them and placed them in her case. "It's always good to have extras."

"Despite Alyssa's condition, we seem to have fallen into a spot of luck with our medical supplies." George said, leading Cindy up the stairs. "I'm almost worried that we're having too much luck, judging by this night's precedence for hurling the most horrendous creatures at us, this is all too lucky. My God, it almost feels like we're cheating or something."

"This isn't a game George."

"But it _is_ in a sort of sick way. I mean, something had to cause all of this, either God or man, someone is playing with us." They reached the landing of the steps as George finished. Before them were more vines, however, they resembled the roots in the basement, but thinner. The smaller root-like tendrils stretched across the walls and did not move. They covered every inch of the hall, from floor to ceiling, culminating in a lattice of tendrils climbing up the far wall through a hole in the ceiling.

"I guess we have to climb?" Cindy shrugged.

"I guess you're right." George motioned for Cindy to lead. "Ladies first."

"Chicken." Cindy started off toward the root-like structure. She tested the structure, pulling hard with both hands. When she was satisfied that it would hold her weight, she stuck her foot into the pattern of tendrils and pushed herself up. She scaled the wall quickly, looking own only once to see if George was following.

He was, but he couldn't match her pace. He started to worry that maybe he was getting old. Despite his slow pace, George rolled over the edge panting. Cindy crouched down next to him. "Do you need a rest?"

George shook his head. "No, I should be fine in a moment or two; it's just been a long night, that's all."

"It certainly has; once we get to the police station, we should be fine though, come on." She patted his chest and helped him to his feet. They were outside. Crows cawed in the darkness, rain spattered against the building. On one side of the walkway they were on, the night swallowed the ground into a three story drop; the other side followed the curve of the building to the left. A few feet in front of them the floor fell away into a small opening that led to the floor below. "This way, watch the hole."

Cindy navigated around the hole and held George's hand as he did the same. She led him through the curve and out onto a flat expanse of the rooftop. On the wall a ladder extended up to the fifth floor above. Surrounding the ladder were two large pods that vibrated and hummed. They leaked a green mist that floated in the air. To the right of the pods, a humungous stalk wrapped itself around the ventilation shaft that climbed the side of the building.

"Dear God, it's worse than I thought." George said.

"How do we kill it?"

"I'm beginning to wonder if we can."


	43. Chapter 43

Author's Note: I don't know if it showed up when I did it, but I rewrote the first chapter and replaced it on here, so check it out, I'm going to be rewriting the second and third too because it doesn't quite line up with those chapters.

"I'm not sure about this Cindy, it doesn't feel right. What if it, I don't know, attacks or something?" George folded his arms and watched Cindy. She had a long metal pipe in her hand that she was using to scrape the pods from the ground.

"I don't see any other way, we can't waste what little we have of the plant killer, and we don't know if these things will kill us. So, I don't see what other choice we have." She shoved the pipe underneath the first pod and kicked a piece of broken wall into place to act as a fulcrum. "I could use some help though."

"Okay, fine." George said with a laugh. He stood behind her and took hold of the pipe. Cindy started a count, and when she reached one, they pushed down on the pipe. The pod rocked, and even gave a little, but the pipe slipped. It took them another two tries, but eventually the pod gave some more. It was hanging halfway off the root structure of the main plant. "Dear God, what the hell are these things?"

"Just keep going, it has to give eventually." Cindy said. She grunted and pushed down again. The pod shifted, and they pushed hard. With a series of snaps, the pod gave way and rolled toward the edge of the roof. "See? Just a little elbow grease and we can get the other one."

George laughed and followed her to the other pod. It came away slightly easier than the first, but not by much. They were thoroughly tired when they began their climb up the ladder. Cindy was the first to crest the fifth floor.

"Watch out up here, half the floor is gone." She said. George threw his arm over the last rung and hauled himself up onto the floor. Cindy was right, next to where he stood, a large squash-shaped hole revealed the beds and monitoring equipment from the fourth floor. The rest of the fifth floor was covered in the ever present layer of plant tendrils and vines. There was no clear access to the roof, but near the back of the enclosure in which they stood was an opening out onto a small ledge. George guessed that there would be a ladder to the roof out there.

"Cindy, look, through there." George pointed to the opening. Cindy followed his finger and nodded when she saw the opening. She began the winding path toward the opening, avoiding both the one story fall and the vines.

George followed her around a support beam and then stopped. In the crook of where the beam met the wall was a man. He wore a bloodied security outfit, probably one of the hospital's guards before it was shut down, and, as with many of the people George had met that night, he was dead. The vines had already claimed him as one of their own, exploring his body inside and out. While the sight was gruesome, and still managed to turn George's stomach even after everything he'd seen that night, the thing that caught George's eye was the shotgun lying next to him.

Cindy noticed it too. "Do you think we should get it?" She asked.

George shook his head. "Looks like that plant already has it, it's too dangerous to try and pull it out."

"Okay," Cindy said and continued toward the exit. She moved through the thin walkway and out onto an open area. All around them the building was destroyed. Rain dripped from the debris in a rhythmic _clop clop clop._

George watched where Cindy put her feet and matched the spots, testing each foot step before putting his full weight down. It was a slow, but necessary process. One he was thankful for a few times as the ground gave way under his foot.

As they neared the threshold to the hallway that led to the roof, the rain started to fall faster. The rhythmic _clop clop clop_, became a heavy grating noise interspersed with a metallic _clang_. George stopped moving and listened. After a few seconds another noise flowed into the pattern.

Grunting.

"Cindy, get up that ladder." George said. As he turned to follow, George saw a hand emerge from below the broken wall. It held an axe.

"Come on!" Cindy yelled, she was already half-way up the ladder.

George didn't need any other encouragement; he grabbed the first rung and pulled himself up. He heard the Axe-Man hoist himself onto the floor as he clambered up the ladder. He wondered if they would be able to find another way down from the roof.

Cindy pulled him onto the roof, and into a run. The roof was a dismal sight; it was devoid of any escape routes. There was nowhere to go and nowhere to hide because dominating a majority of the rooftop was a hulking plant bulb. Tendrils writhed and flailed as the bulb pulsed; it secreted a clear with each pulse that squirted a few feet like blood from a severed artery. The ground was covered in the sticky liquid.

They moved away from the ladder and toward the bulb, but kept their distance.

"My God, that's huge, how are we going to kill it?" Cindy asked.

"We have to hope that the solution Dorothy created worked." George fished around in his pocket and withdrew the syringe.

"Fine, but how are we going to get close enough, look at it."

"I have an idea that might work, I'll just—" George stopped as the Axe-Man pulled himself onto the roof. They hadn't even heard him climbing. The Axe-Man hefted his axe and started toward them. "Cindy, I need you to distract him, can you do that?"

"Distract him how?"

"Anything, I just need a few minutes." George swung his bag around and flipped open the canvas flap. He took out an extra pistol magazine and handed it to her. "Just be careful."

"I will." She waved to him and ran toward the Axe-Man. She fired off a shot at him, missing him, but causing enough commotion to make him change direction.

George watched her for a moment, and then bent back to his bag. He pushed aside bandages and medicine, gels and ointments, and other medical supplies in search of what he was now glad he thought to bring. He smiled when he felt the cold metallic handle; he only hoped the solution worked.

The Launcher was meant for anesthetics; it was only supposed to be used as a sort of all-purpose tranquilizer gun, but George had seen it used once on a rabid dog to administer a lethal dosage of poison. He hoped it would work much the same now. The barrel flipped down and George pulled out a projectile syringe from inside.

He injected the solution into the Launcher's projectile syringe to the sound of gunshots and grunts. He looked up to see Cindy ducking out of the way of the Axe-Man's swing. She rolled on the ground and shot him once through the thigh as she got up onto her knee. He growled in pain, but moved on despite the injury.

George squeezed the last bit of solution into the now full projectile syringe and loaded it back into the Launcher. He pinned the gun between his legs and pulled back on the lever, it was hard to pull, and it slipped from his grasp two times before he was able to get it all the way back, but when he did he took aim and fired. The Launcher made a soft _whoosh_ as the syringe left the barrel and flew into the plant.

The plant wriggled violently and the Axe-Man let out a horrid scream. George jumped and turned to look at him. The Axe-Man held his head between his hands and stumbled backward a few steps, pin wheeling his arms as he neared the edge of the roof.

Cindy took the opportunity. She took two steps, lifted her leg, and planted a kick in the center of his stomach. The Axe-Man whirled his arms faster, but the kick sent him too far off balance. He tumbled off the roof, screaming until he hit the ground with a fleshy _thud_.

"Cindy, get over here!" George screamed. The tendrils twirled overhead angrily. The first one hit far to his left, the second was closer, and the third he had to dodge. It was a methodical sweep of the roof. George reached into the bag and took out another projectile syringe. "Keep it busy please; I need to load this up again."

"Fine, but hurry, this jumping and rolling thing is more tiring than I thought!" She said and let off a few shots at the plant. They hit, but the plant continued its sweep. She fired once more and lowered the gun. "I don't understand, I'm hitting it, I-"

Cindy took a step forward; one of the tendrils swung toward her. She screamed and ducked, covering her head with her hands. The tendril flew just over her head. Cindy fell backward and scrambled away.

"What was _that_!" She cried.

"The liquid. Look!" George said, he pointed to where Cindy had been standing. The clear liquid that was pooling around the plant rippled from where Cindy had stepped. "It's like the walls; that must be how it feels."

"That's…easy. Just hurry up and do what you have to do." Cindy climbed back to her feet and picked up some loose gravel. "Let's hope this works."

George squeezed the last bit of the solution into the Launcher's syringe as Cindy tossed the first stone. As the stone hit the pool, the plant turned violent. Three of the tendrils slammed down into where the stone hit, causing the roof to shake. The victory didn't last long, the plant, realizing it hit nothing, quickly started checking the surrounding area. It tapped the ground like a blind man using a cane.

With the Launcher loaded, George pinned the weapon between his knees and yanked on the plunger. It came back slowly, but this time he was prepared for the difficultly. The plunger set with a soft _click_. He raised the weapon and took a step forward.

It was too late.

When he felt the wetness of the liquid, George was already in the path of the first tendril. It hit him square in the shoulder, knocking him to the ground. The Launcher flew from his hands. The momentum from the hit forced him into a roll as he hit the ground. The second tendril smashed into the ground where he had landed a second too late.

George was on his knees crawling away as soon as he stopped rolling. The tendrils hit blindly around the area where he landed, but George was already far away from there. However, the relentless onslaught cut him off from the Launcher.

"Cindy, you have to shoot it!" He pointed to the Launcher. It laid only a few paces from where she was hidden.

She took off at a run, jumping over a tendril feeling the ground for her, and ducking under another that swept in low. Skidding to a halt, Cindy picked up the Launcher, lined up the shot and squeezed the trigger.

For a moment, the tendrils kept feeling around for them as if nothing happened, but after a pause, they began to twitch. It was a soft twitch at first, almost a neurotic tick if plants could have those, but then it became more spastic, and then violent. The clear liquid squirted out of a rapidly forming hole where the needle hit the plant. It sizzled and cracked as the plant withered from within. The hole widened and deepened like a slow motion implosion.

The whole plant bulb began to recede into the roof, the roots withered and died on the gravel, and massive sections of the plant fell through the now visible hole in the roof. Cracks formed tangential to the hole, sprouting even more fissures in the crumbling roof. George scrambled to his feet like a drunk as the roof shook beneath his feet.

"Cindy!" He cried, holding his hand out to her. She reached out for him, but the roof collapsed before they could touch. Cindy screamed as she plummeted to the floor below. George took one more step and felt the weightlessness of nothingness. His stomach turned and he was falling. It was a short fall, but a painful one. He slammed hard into an examination bed, but the cushioning softened the blow. The bed collapsed under his weight. "Cindy! Can you hear me?"

"Y…yes, but I don't know where I am."

"Are you hurt?"

"A few cuts and scrapes, but for all the trouble it's caused us, I think the plant saved me from the brunt of the fall. I _am_ covered in that goo though." She laughed.

George tried to follow the sound of her voice, but she was somewhere on the other side of the wall, maybe even down a floor. "Okay, try to make your way down to the others; we should be able to get out now that the plant is gone."

"Maybe we should meet up first?" Cindy suggested.

"It'll be easier to meet back in Surgery, I'm fairly certain I'm on the fourth floor, so I just need to find the main stairwell. But, if we get lost looking for each other, we could get into trouble."

There was a pause, and then, "Okay, five minutes and we're both back at Surgery, alright?"

"Alright." George agreed. He turned from the wall and looked around the room. He realized that he had fallen into one of the examination rooms on the fourth floor. That would mean that the stairwell would be just outside the room around a corner. There were two doors in the room; he just hoped they weren't locked.

George walked over to the first door and reached out to turn the knob. Before he could touch the metal, a thin vine snaked its way up the door and twisted itself around the handle.

"God damn it!" George cursed. They killed the plant, and yet it still found a way to cause him trouble. He backed away from the door, and nearly fell over as his foot gave out. He got his balance and looked down at what he had stepped on. It was a small key with tape on the head. The tape read, **Administrator's Office**.

He tucked the key into his pocket and crossed the room to the other door. The door led him out to an area he recognized. A painted **4f** on the wall confirmed where he was, and it was a quick walk to the stairwell. He made his way down the stairs to the second floor where he briefly considered going into Al's office now that he had the key, but decided to wait for the others. He took the back stairwell and knocked on the door to Surgery.

"Who is it?" Kevin called.

"It's George open up."

Cindy burst through the door before Kevin and wrapped her arms around him. "You were cutting it pretty close."

"Five minutes is a short time to go four flights." He replied.

Cindy let him go and took a step back. "You should have run then."

"He looks like he couldn't run even if he wanted to." Alyssa said. She was sitting up in the bed with Mark next to her. The needles were removed, but the transfusion looked to have taken a lot out of both of them.

"I look worse than I feel, how about you? How do you feel?" George asked. He walked over to her and began a cursory examination.

"I'm fine." Alyssa removed George's hand from her chin when he tried to turn her face. "Don't get all frisky now; you've had your chance."

"I just want to see if there was any lasting damage."

"I know what you want, but it doesn't look like we have a lot of time, can we just get out of here?"

George sighed. "I'm not sure about that, I think there's something else keeping us in here."

"We killed the plant though." Cindy said.

"We killed _a_ plant; I saw another door get blocked by some more plant life."

"What do we do then?" Kevin asked.

George took out the key. "I found this; we can take a look around Al's office, maybe something will turn up there."

"It's better than standing around with our thumbs up our asses." Mark suggested.

"I agree; I need to get up and move around before I become completely useless." Alyssa started to get out of the bed, and Kevin was there putting her arm around his shoulder. She frowned, but didn't stop him. "This place gives me the creeps for some reason."

"Fine, the office isn't far anyway, but we need to figure out where that plant is, and how to get rid of it." George slipped the key back into his pocket.

"Going to the office is all fine and dandy, but I think we need to talk about what we're going to do if we can't find that plant." Mark added.

"That's great, but can we do it on the way, I really just want to move around, I feel like I've been lying down for a year." Alyssa said.

George shrugged and led them through the door and into the stairwell.

"Which room did you see get covered?" Mark asked.

"It was just the door actually, but it was one of the doors in an examination room on the fourth floor." George said.

"What's so special about that door?" Cindy asked.

"It's funny; I think it just opens out onto a balcony, if I remember correctly I took a couple of smoke breaks up there before I quit."

"Can we use it as an exit?" Kevin asked.

"I wouldn't suggest it; it's on the fourth floor." George shrugged. They walked onto the second floor and moved into the corner where Al's office resided. George opened the door to the waiting room and ushered the others inside. The space was cramped, so George had to squeeze past the others to reach the office door. He pushed the door open after unlocking it and walked in.

The room looked untouched. The only plant life in the room was a pair of wilted house plants in old pots placed on a half-wall. If the room were in a University it would not be out-of-place; books filled the shelves of three floor-to-ceiling book cases and a large study table was set up with a few books still open on its surface. Beyond the half-wall, George could see Al's office proper, but before he made his way into the back office, Cindy caught his sleeve.

"George, look." She said, pointing to a small reading table next to one of the book cases. On the table were three syringes full of the greenish liquid they had used on the plant upstairs. "It looks like Al and Dorothy were trying to kill the plant too."

"I just wish he would have told me about this before we came in." George groaned.

"You did cut him off pretty quickly."

"I'll have to apologize when we go back to get them." George said as he slid the syringes into his bag. He was the first around the half wall and into the office. The office was what George expected: pictures of Dorothy decorated the only desk, thank-you cards were tacked to a cork board next to the desk, and another wilted plant adorned the window sill.

"Whoa, déjà vu." Alyssa said.

"You've been here before?" Kevin asked.

"Not that I know of, but this office just seems familiar for some reason."

George took a quick look around the room, nothing much seemed useful, but the thing that caught George's eye was a small handwritten note on the desk. He picked it up and started to read it out loud.

"'_Al,_

_The roof was a disaster, it's worse than I thought. The plants are growing too fast, something is wrong. I saw something downstairs in the storage room while I was filling the tub with that plant killer I made; I'm going to look to see if there's anything growing down there. I hope it's nothing, but I'm starting to think that we need to call an exterminator. Do they even have exterminators for plants?_

_ I love you,_

_Dorothy'"_

"That's it, it must be in the basement then." Kevin said.

"It's not that easy, if she's talking about the room I think she is, then the door is locked." George corrected.

"When is it ever easy?" Cindy moaned.

"I know it sounds crazy, but can we just kick the door down? It can't be that tough." Kevin suggested.

"It's metal, we can try but it's going to take a while." George said. He folded his arms and leaned against the table.

"Wait," Alyssa looked over at the corkboard, "I do remember this room."

"How?" Kevin asked.

"I don't know, but I remember something about that cork board. Take the tacks off."

"Listen, Alyssa, I know it seems like you might remember this room, but you just went through surgery, I think your mind might be playing tricks on you." George said.

"No, I remember something about that board; just try taking the tacks off."

George looked at the board and then back to Alyssa. "Alyssa, it's highly unlikely that-"

"Just take off the God damned tacks." Alyssa yelled.

"Fine." George turned around and began pulling the tacks off one-by-one. He had a sizable pile before he found one that he couldn't pull out. He looked back at Alyssa in confusion; she nodded. When he tried to turn it to loosen it, the tack clicked.

With a loud rumble, the wall to the right of the cork board slid away. The newly opened room was about the same size as the office, but instead of being sparsely decorated, the walls were lined with papers. The only other thing in the room was a single desk placed into the far corner of the room.

"But how…?" George trailed off and took a step into the room.

"I don't know how, but I just knew." Alyssa said.

George looked at the first paper; it was an item list. He didn't know all of the drugs on the paper, but he could recognize a few anesthetics and poisons. He skimmed the next few papers and nearly threw up. The sick bastard was experimenting on patients. There were failed experiments all over the wall. More papers littered the desk, but on top, George found a roster of patients Al experimented on.

_B. Jacobs__…..35_

_J. Heathcock…..41_

_F. Smith…16_

_D. Martino__….…22_

_A. Ashcroft…..….06_

_S. Burnside__….…..14_

_H. Kushto….….52_

George read the list once and then again. He put the paper down and sighed, he could only guess that the names crossed out were from patients that didn't survive the testing.

"Al, what the hell were you doing?" George asked.

"What do you mean?" Cindy asked, scanning the walls.

"These papers, they're experimental procedures; Al was testing patients for something, but not in a medical way. It's kind of hard to explain, but some of these chemicals are toxins, more are poisons, anesthetics, and the rest I don't recognize. It looks like Al was keeping people sick. I just don't know why."

"That's terrible, why would anyone do that?"

"Oh my God." Alyssa pushed off of Kevin and took a step toward the wall. She was staring at a picture of a little girl. "How…?"

The picture looked familiar; the little girl was standing in front of the hospital waving at the camera. George walked over to where Alyssa stood; she took the picture down and started to cry. When George got closer, he remembered where he had seen the picture; it was in Al's cabin.

"This isn't possible." Alyssa sobbed.

"What is it?" Kevin asked, he came up behind her and put an arm around her shoulder.

"It's…me."

"Are you sure?"

Alyssa shot him an angry glare. "I think I know my picture when I see it."

"Why would it be here then?" Kevin asked.

"What hospital is this?" Alyssa asked George, suddenly very calm.

"Raccoon General Hospital, why?"

Alyssa threw the picture on the floor. "That explains the corkboard and this feeling I've had since I woke up."

"You're going have to explain yourself." Mark said.

"I _am_ the little girl in that picture, or at least I was. When I was six, I went through a period of near constant sickness, I lost a year of my life, and I spent almost all of my days in this hospital. I came close to dying plenty of times, but each time the doctors were there to bring me back.

"I blocked most of it out of my mind, but seeing that picture, I remember bits and pieces now. I remember feeling sick every day. Throwing up bile and blood whenever I didn't eat, which was most days because I couldn't keep anything down. However, there was a woman too, Dorothy I guess, there. She would hold my hair and rub my back, trying to calm me.

"Then…she would give me a pill, she'd say it was to make me feel better, but I'd always feel worse. That went on for about a year before my parents decided that I wasn't getting any better. They moved me out of the hospital and into another one in the city. It took a few months, but eventually I started to feel better.

"Now, this…this shit is what happened to me?" She wiped her eyes. "I can't stay here."

Alyssa limped out of the secret room. Kevin looked at the others and followed. "Alyssa wait."

George waited until they were gone and then picked the picture up. He looked at young Alyssa and turned the picture over. There was something written on the back in Al's hand.

_Young children have such weak immune systems. That's to be expected, however, they are still in the growth stages, they are getting used to their bodies, discovering their limits and going beyond them. With that said, Alyssa was an exceptional youth; it is with a heavy heart that I had to lose her. She showed great promise for one so young._

_ Nearly a year ago she came into the hospital with a fever, I gave her something to stave off the worst of the fever, but I also slipped in a little arsenic in to the mix. Since that day, I had needed to increase the dose on a weekly basis just to maintain the effects. At the end of her stay, Alyssa was taking enough arsenic to kill a normal girl her age._

_ I'm considering transferring to the hospital she was moved to just to continue the regimen, but Dorothy asked me not to, it would only cause suspicion. Maybe someday another patient like Alyssa will come along._

George dropped the picture and groaned. How could the man he'd worked with have done all of this. How could he not have known? Seen the signs? They'd all been taught about patient abuse, gone through the courses and the seminars, and yet George didn't see this one. He thought back, and he could see signs now, the hospital had a medium to high patient mortality rate, long patient turnovers, and Al or Dorothy were involved with many of the patients one-on-one. He felt sick.

George grabbed the table and tipped it over. Papers flew into the air, the table smacked against the floor with a resounding thud, and something clinked on the floor.

"What was that?" Mark asked. He looked around the floor where the noise originated. Cindy got down on the floor and started sifting through the fall of papers. It took a few minutes, but Mark found it.

"It's some sort of key." Mark held it out to them.

"Is it the one we need?" Cindy asked.

George took it from Mark and looked at it. It was too small to fit the door in the basement, but there were three numbers etched on the back: **010.**

"No, but this looks like the key to one of the lockers. My guess is that it's Al's, and I think he kept a spare set of keys in there, come on."

They left the room and met up with Kevin and Alyssa in the waiting room. They were sitting on one of the benches; Kevin had her in his arms. Alyssa picked her head up from Kevin's shoulder when they walked in.

"Are you okay?" Cindy asked.

Alyssa nodded. "It was a lot to take in, but I just want to get out of here now, please tell me we can leave."

"Almost, we have one more stop to make first." George held the locker key up. He filled them in about the spare keys on the way down to the locker room.

The locker room was still messy from when the Axe Man attacked George, but luckily Al's locker was one of the lockers that went unmolested. George slipped the key into the hole and unlocked the door. Inside, Al's locker was very neat; he only had one pair of clothes hanging on a hook and a ring of keys on the shelf above.

"I got them; we just have to find the right key for the room downstairs." George jingled the hefty ring of keys. Many of them looked alike, and some of them didn't have any markings.

"_That_ should be easy." Alyssa laughed. "Let's just go, the faster we kill that weed, the better."

George led them down into the basement. They turned the corner and walked half-way down the hallway to the locked door. George tried key after key, each one either didn't fit, or turned in the lock futilely. When he had gone through half of the keys, the door to the upstairs opened.

Footsteps clicked through the hallway.

"It can't be; we killed him." Cindy protested.

"Can't be who?" Alyssa asked.

As if in answer to her question, the Axe Man turned the corner ahead, the only sign that he had taken the five story fall was a slight limp. He raised the axe and charged.

Kevin took the first shot, hitting him low in the leg. Blood squirted from the wound, but it only made the Axe Man stumble for a second. He took another shot, but this too barely affected him.

"Hurry up George, find that key!" Mark said. He joined the firing. Cindy and Alyssa joined the fight as well. With all four of them firing, the Axe Man stopped his charge. He stood still, bullet holes torn through his body, and collapsed. Blood pooled around the body.

"Thank God, I'm dry." Kevin said. He turned his pistol over in his hand; the slide was cocked back revealing an empty barrel. The other three echoed his sentiment.

"Did you find the key yet?" Alyssa asked.

"I'm almost done the ring, and still nothing."

"Hurry up then, I don't-" Alyssa began, but stopped when the Axe Man started to move.

"Shit!" Mark screamed. He shot the last of his clip. The bullets hit the Axe Man, but didn't seem to do anything. The Axe Man got to his knees and then to his feet.

"D…Dorothy." He said. The Axe Man reached up and ripped the black hood off his head. Al panted and heaved. "Get away from Dorothy."

"Al?" George stood with a key in his hand.

"Al?" Alyssa echoed. "You sick bastard, what did you do to me?"

"Nothing your precious body couldn't handle my dear." He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "I'm glad you came back to me though; there are so many things I've learned since you left and I want to try them all. Before that though, Dorothy told me she wants to see you. You've been gone for so long. We've missed you."

"Shut the hell up you psycho!" Alyssa screamed.

Al laughed and picked up his axe. "In due time dear."

Kevin was the first to run. He opened his arms for a tackle. When he got close enough, Al hit him in the back of the head with the butt of the axe. Kevin went down quickly. Al raised the axe to finish off Kevin, but stopped when Alyssa used the last of her magazine on him. The bullets hit their mark. Al's head blew back, the bullet left his skull followed by a spray of blood and brain matter.

Alyssa dropped the handgun and limped over to Kevin as fast as she could. She cradled him in her arms. "You dumbass, what were you thinking?"

"You should know by now that I don't." Kevin laughed and groaned. He reached back to feel his head; there was no blood on his fingers. "He was a crazy bastard though wasn't he?"

Alyssa leaned down and brushed her lips against Kevin's tentatively. When he responded, she kissed him full in the mouth. Kevin threaded his fingers into her hair and pulled her into the kiss.

"That was nice." She said.

"We can do it again if you'd like."

"Maybe when we're-"

Al started to move again.

"No. No! NO!" She stood up quickly, grabbing the axe as she did. She raised it above her head.

"Alyssa, dear, please!" Al put a hand up in defense.

Alyssa swung the axe down, hitting Al in the chest. "You," she hit again, "Need," again, "To," again, "DIE!" In one final swing, Alyssa buried the axe deep into Al's chest, cracking the sternum and lodging the weapon too far to pull back out. She collapsed.

Kevin was there to catch her. "I think you might have gotten him that last time."

Alyssa chuckled. "Shut up."

"I got it!" George exclaimed. He twisted the knob and opened the door.

Alyssa looked up at Kevin and then to Al. "I have mixed feelings about how long that took, but thank God it's done."

Inside, the room was just bright enough to see the massive plant covering over half of the room. It was still, and at first, it looked lifeless, but George knew that it was alive. He took the syringe launcher from the bag at his side and loaded one of the projectile syringes. He then passed around bottles of the plant killer to the others and empty syringes.

"Get ready." He said, squeezing the trigger. When the syringe hit the plant, everything moved at once. The plant shuddered and came to life. Tendrils swung around blindly in all directions. Some came from the ceiling, others from the floor, and more from the plant itself. George ducked as one of the tendrils stabbed at him. Mark was the first to give him a loaded syringe. He pushed the syringe into the barrel and pulled back hard on the handle. It clicked in place and he took another shot. The plant twitched again.

The outer layer of the plant opened. Interwoven into the plant, Dorothy slid out. From the waist down, the plant swallowed her body. Her eyes flicked open and she gasped. "What…have…you…done?"

Her voice was raw like she'd been screaming for days. She looked at George; a tendril whipped out and hit the launcher from his hand. It curled around his arm and yanked him to the ground. Another wrapped around his neck and hauled him to his feet. George had enough time to grab hold of the tendril and save himself from a broken neck.

He could hear Cindy scream, but he couldn't tell what. All he could think about was the tendril tightening around his neck. He could hear the blood pulsing in his ears as it tried to flow, but couldn't. He kicked his legs fruitlessly in the air, inches above the floor. A pair of arms pulled at his waist, but the tendril held on powerfully.

And suddenly it let go.

George crashed to the ground on top of Mark. He racked out a few coughs and rolled onto the floor.

"Al?" Dorothy's voice floated from above. "What have they done to you?"

He lay in the doorway with the bloody axe still in his chest. "D…d…d…"

A pair of tendrils wrapped around his body and scooped him into the air. "Al, look what they've done to you. My love, come with me. Come into me."

Al coughed some blood out, it dribbled down his chin and onto the tendrils. Dorothy made a shushing noise like a mother coddling a child. More tendrils came out of the plant and prodded Al's chest, rubbing it gently. They began massaging his wounds and secreting their clear liquid.

Suddenly they pierced his body. Al let out a cry as the plant thrusted through his flesh. The tendrils wiggled out of his back and pushed further in. Al went limp, his wounds sobbing blood and plant liquid. The plant wrapped itself around Al's corpse and pulled it close to Dorothy.

She reached out and caressed Al's cheek. A space in the plant opened next to her and Al slipped in. "We're whole now, Al, we can be together."

"Enjoy it while you can." Alyssa said. She had the launcher in her hand, aimed at Dorothy. Before Dorothy could do anything, Alyssa squeezed the trigger. The syringe flew and his Dorothy in the neck.

Dorothy quickly ripped the syringe out of her neck, but the damage was done. It took a few seconds before anything changed, but once it did, the change was rapid. Dorothy's neck turned purple, her veins stood out as bright red marks snaking their way up into her brain, and the roots protruding from her chest started to wither. Dorothy shook spastically. The outer layer of the plant shriveled and dimpled like a raisin. The clear liquid sprayed from rapidly forming holes in the plant's body. Rubble fell from the ceiling as the plant receded. The whole building shook, and something crashed upstairs.

"We need to leave, now!" Mark screamed above the noise of the destruction. Kevin helped Alyssa to the door and they all ran out. Dorothy's screams followed them into the hallway.

Debris fell around them as they made their way back upstairs. The roots and vines along the wall pulled back and left holes where they had pierced the structure. The whole building was going to come down around them.

They ran passed the locker room and out into the main corridor beyond. In the middle of the hallway, right in front of where the entrance was, the ceiling had collapsed, leaving behind large chunks of debris, blocking their path.

"Shit, what now?" Kevin asked. "How are we going to get out?"

"There has to be another way." Mark said.

"Fourth floor; go!" George ushered them up the nearby stairwell. He didn't know if it would work, but the only other way he knew of was the balcony on the fourth floor. They dodged falling bits of ceiling and maneuvered through crumbling floors up three flights. When they made it to the fourth floor, George showed them the examination room he had been in earlier. The door to the balcony was clear and they ran through.

Outside, the forest lay sprawled before them. The height was too high to jump from, but luckily, the room next door had a fire escape.

"Thank God!" Alyssa cried.

Kevin went first; he stepped onto the ledge from the windowsill and shimmied across until he got to the fire escape. He helped the others cross, and brought up the rear as they ran down the fire escape. Chunks of the building crashed down as they fled.

The fire escape shuttered and ripped from the side of the building when they reached the second floor. It crashed to the ground in a metallic heap, throwing everyone just before it hit the ground. George rolled when he landed, but the pain still shot through his whole body.

He stood up on shaky legs and called out for the others. Each answered one after the other and regrouped around him. Alyssa was the last to come over; she was holding her thigh.

"I think I might have torn some of my stiches George." She said.

"I'll take a look when we get on the train, but for now let's just go." George looked to Kevin. Kevin nodded and gathered Alyssa into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and let him carry her back through the forest path.

It took them the better part of ten minutes to find their way back to Al's cabin, and another five minutes to find the train again. When they finally emerged from the forest, they found the field littered with the remains of a small battle. Zombies lay dead all along the length of the train.

David and Yoko started to call for them; they waved them over, and the train sputtered to a start. They climbed onto the train one-by-one, and Jim pushed the train into gear.

"Next stop Raccoon Police Department." Jim said over the loud speaker.

Kevin placed Alyssa down on one of the longer seats. Alyssa started to take her pants off, and George took out some of the surgical he stole from the hospital. The stiches did come loose, but it wasn't as bad as it could be. George squeezed some of the glue into the spots where the stiches came out and held the flaps of skin closed.

George sat down gingerly into one of the seats and looked out the window. Cindy sat down next to him and placed a hand on his leg.

"You did great."

"I don't think I would have if you hadn't been there."

"Regardless, you saved her life, and now we can finally get to some place that's finally safe."

"Is it?" George covered her hand with his and turned back to the window. The city was on fire, burning in its own filth, and they were heading back into the heart of it, chasing a message only half heard.


	44. Chapter 44

The train rolled into the station closest to the police department. It was still a few blocks away, but the tracks started heading in the opposite direction farther along the rail. Judging by the state of the roads, they would have to walk. Broken down cars littered the streets; rubble and debris from destroyed stores and shattered buildings filled in the spots between the cars.

The hum of the engine died away only to be replaced by the sounds of crackling flames from the larger conflagration that was Raccoon City. The stench of those who did not make it to the police station floated on eddies of wind into the train. It served as a warning for those in the train for what waited them if they did not make it to the police station.

No one moved for the first few minutes, possibly afraid to break the momentary peace they had found on that train. While all knew this feigned tranquility was fleeting, no one wanted to be the one to shatter this oasis in the desert of death.

Yoko was the first one to have the courage. "It's only a few blocks right, it shouldn't be that bad."

"Lots of bad shit can happen in a few blocks." Jim corrected.

"How about we don't think about all of the bad things that could happen?" David asked.

Kevin stood up and walked toward the middle of the train where they had placed all of their weapons and ammunition. "I think we need to talk about all of this." He gestured toward the weapons. "As I see it, we have two problems. First, we're running low on ammo for every gun we have, and second there's no way we can carry all of this and still be able to outrun those creatures. I think we need to consider leaving behind most of our heavier guns."

"What _can_ we bring with us?" Mark asked.

Kevin took stock of what they had before answering. "We have three rounds left for the rifle, I think we can safely leave that, one box of shells for two shotguns, we should leave one, and enough handgun ammo for three clips. I say we each take a handgun and one person takes a shotgun."

"What about the rest of us?" Cindy asked.

"Whoever doesn't get ammo will have to make due with whatever we can find, unless they want to use an empty gun; I don't think that will do too much though."

"Then who gets the ammo?" Yoko asked.

"I'd say the people with the best shots." Kevin answered.

"And who's that?" Jim asked.

"Kevin, Mark, and Alyssa I'd say." George said.

"Don't dismiss yourself George; you're a pretty good shot from what I've seen." Kevin said.

"Not good enough to risk our lives on. I think with our circumstances, that sounds like the best plan." George stood, ejected the magazine in his pistol and handed it to Kevin. "I still have a few rounds left in here; you can make better use of them than I can."

"This plan sounds all well and good, but there's one problem: I won't be good for anything besides moving my ass from here to the station." Alyssa said. "So, you're going to need to find someone else to shoot for you."

"Fine," David said. "I'll take a pistol, Mark takes a shotgun, Kevin has his pistol, and George you said no to a handgun right?"

"Too much pressure."

"Fine, Yoko do you want it?"

"Sure, I'll do my best." Yoko nodded and came forward for her gun. Kevin and David parsed out the weapons, spreading the ammunition around as much as possible. When George collected his empty handgun, David reached into his tool belt and brought out a small folding knife.

"It's better than nothing." David said with a shrug.

"Thanks, I hope I don't need it." George laughed and folded the blade back into the handle.

When everyone was armed with some sort of weapon, they left the train. When George stepped out onto the platform, a strange mixture of relief and terror filled him. While they were leaving the relative safety of the train and traveling into the unknown, they were finally going somewhere. For the majority of the night, they had had no choices, they just ran and ran, but now they had a destination and George hoped that the night was nearing its end.

The train was on a raised platform, and from the vantage point, George could see the police station. While the streets were cluttered with the remains of the city, they looked oddly desolate of zombies. George thought that there might be a few lingering around, but seeing none was more alarming than seeing a few.

After hopping over the locked turnstile, they quickly descended the stairs to street level. The group fanned out and moved between the cracks in the clutter. George shimmied between cars and street lamps, rubble and fires. The gridlock was so bad in places that he had to climb on the hoods of cars to get across. It was a dangerous trek, and the added caution made their progress slow to a crawl.

"Can anyone see if it gets any easier up ahead?" Kevin asked. He was in the rear, helping Cindy carry Alyssa.

"A little farther on it starts to clear up." David said. He was right, a side street merged with the main throughway and the traffic jam eased slightly. It looked to be enough to move around without the need to climb on the hoods of cars.

"The station's only a few blocks from here, we should be there in no time." Kevin called ahead.

"Oh shit!" Jim screamed and stumbled. A fleshless hand reached through the open window of one of the cars and grabbed his leg. The zombie held on tightly as Jim frantically tried to scramble away. His scream echoed down the desolate street.

"Help him!" Kevin ordered.

David was the first to respond; in a few moments, he was at Jim's side trying to pry the skeletal hand from Jim's leg. David managed to loosen the hand enough so that Jim pulled his leg free and backed away. As Jim stood up, he lost his balance. Jim pin wheeled his arms, but he was far too gone to recover. He fell backward into a parked car, setting off the alarm.

In the quiet of the night, the sound of the alarm traveled far, echoing down the main street and into each of the connecting paths. It left the streets and flowed into the surrounding buildings. Soon the repetitious _beep beep beep_ was accompanied by the multitudinous sounds of moans and shuffling feet. The once singular alarm became a lethal cacophony.

"Shit man! That wasn't my fault!" Jim shouted.

"Who gives a shit? Run!" Kevin screamed.

The first zombie to reach the street fell out of the third story window of an apartment building a block in front of them. The large man hit the ground with a soft _thud_. He wasn't the only one to reach the street. From within the same apartment building, a mostly naked woman and a man dressed in a suit stumbled out of the front door. More were clambering from within stopped cars, reaching through open windows or breaking closed ones, and some were moving into the main road from side streets.

David shot the first zombie as it reached for him. The man's head reared back and he collapsed to the ground. Another zombie was right behind him, a woman, grabbing at David. David scrambled back and took the shot, missing the woman.

"We can't kill them all! Save the ammo!" Mark shouted.

David growled and hopped to the next car just out of the woman's reach. George followed his path and stayed only a car behind. The walkable area narrowed as the zombies poured out of the surrounding buildings. Where only one or two zombies were a few moments ago groups of ten appeared with more flowing out onto the streets.

Up ahead the cars thinned and a pathway emerged. David was the first to climb back down onto the street. He turned and helped the others down from the cars. George and Mark turned and held off the few zombies that got too close.

"Go, they're closing the path off. Get there before they do!" David screamed. He punched a zombie and pushed another down to make a clearing. George slashed at a few zombies, but gave up when it did little to deter the mass of undead. He instead turned and took Alyssa from Kevin.

"Go! Hold them off!" He said. Kevin took a step, looked back at him and Alyssa, and ran up to where David was shooting off the last of his clip. "Come on Alyssa, it's only a few blocks and we'll be at the station. You need to move."

"What the hell does it _look_ like I'm doing?" Alyssa said through gritted teeth. "Just keep me upright and I'll move as fast as I need to."

"George I don't know if she can go any faster."

"I'll have to, now shut up and move." Alyssa stepped forward, pulling both George and Cindy with her.

Up ahead David and Kevin held the gap in the zombies as well as they could. They tried to use their ammunition sparingly but within minutes David's pistol clicked empty. Yoko replaced David as George and Cindy hauled Alyssa past the bottleneck in the cars.

"The station is only a block ahead. We'll cover the rear." Kevin waved his hand ushering them forward.

Alyssa started to move faster, she began pulling George and Cindy along the street. They passed overturned trashcans, oils barrels, and other signs of a city that only a few hours ago was functioning normally. They progressed quickly, but the horde traveled closely behind. Every few yards someone would fire off a shot.

George thought of his mortality often that night but never so much as with every shot that rang out during that chase. Each bullet was like another tick on the Reaper's tally, counting down until all of those guns ran dry. It was only a matter of how fast they could run.

They rounded the corner and saw the station. It was only half of a block away, but nothing ever seemed so far to George. He pushed Alyssa faster. She grunted but didn't protest.

"Shit that was close!" Jim screamed behind.

"Don't let them get too close dipshit!" David screamed back.

"What do you think I'm doing?" Jim asked.

"Jim, go ahead and open the door!" Kevin punctuated the last with a gunshot.

"Fine, but if there're any near that building I'm coming back." Jim said as he brushed past George. He jogged ahead of the group and squeezed through the outer metal gates of the station. "This shit's locked!" Jim banged on the door. "Hey, open up! I can hear you, open the door, we're alive."

George pushed one of the gates open enough for him and Cindy to walk through without having to pivot. He could hear someone arguing inside the police station between Jim's screams.

"They're alive Marvin, we need to help them. It's our _job_." It was a woman's voice.

"Do you think that applies now? Look around you. Look at how much that has helped. Look at what it's gotten us, gotten _me_." A man's voice replied.

"Open the door, please, we need to get in, they're behind us!" Jim said, still banging on the door. _Whack whack whack._

"Marvin!"

"Rita, we can't take them in, we barely survived the last time. What if one or all of them are infected?"

"We need to take that chance."

"Rita, do not open that door."

Kevin slammed the gate shut. "Someone get something to bar this gate, anything."

David handed him a bent pipe and Kevin fed it through the gate. "That's not going to hold for long, what's taking so long with that door?"

"They won't open it!" Jim called back.

"Marvin, they are going to _die_. Can you live with that?"

There was a short silence and then, "Fine, but you're responsible for them."

There was a loud _click_ as the lock was undone, and then a louder scraping noise as the door was unbarred. Jim ripped the doors open and ran in. They had made it.


	45. Chapter 45

The police station was not what he had expected. There were only two officers, one a blond woman, Rita, George assumed, and the other a sickly black man, Marvin. As with many of the buildings they had visited that night, debris littered the main hall. Two either unconscious or dead officers were lying next to a statue of a woman holding a basin on her shoulder in the center of the main hall. Three more bodies were in the hall, but other than those seven people, no one was in the entrance.

"Have they been bitten?" Mark asked.

"Have _you_ been bitten?" Marvin stepped up and eyed Mark up and down.

"Ease off Marvin." Kevin said. "We're as clean as we can be."

Marvin jumped when he saw Kevin. "Kevin, you've got to be shitting me. I thought you were dead, I tried your car when all of this started, but there was no answer. I swore you'd be dead."

"Not me, I'm tougher than a couple of undead freaks." He shook Marvin's hand. "I had to ditch the car when people started to eat each other."

"If you're alive, then what about Frank? Oswald? John? Marie? Kevin what about them?" Marvin grabbed Kevin's jacket and pulled him closer. "God damnit Kevin answer me!"

"Marvin, I haven't seen anyone else, I don't know." Kevin gently released himself from Marvin's grip. "We heard the call on the radio and came when we could. Where is everyone else?"

Marvin glanced at Rita then back to Kevin. He swung his arm around the hall slowly. "This _is_ everyone Kevin. We're all that's left in this hell hole. We're down to guarding a couple of half dead officers. Rita thought it would be a good idea to send that recording, I don't know how I let her convince me, but she did."

"She was always persuasive." Kevin said. Marvin laughed joylessly.

"Yeah, that she was. Still is too if you can believe it, she got you all in here."

"Thanks for that by the way, I didn't want to get my ass chewed on." Jim broke in.

"Don't mention it." Rita said. She waved her hand and folded her arms before retreating to the wall.

"Listen Kevin, I don't know what we can do for you. I'm sorry you came all the way out here, but we're as much trapped in here as anywhere else. It's a miracle that we've kept them out for this long, and now you guys brought a mob, I don't know how we're going to keep them out." Marvin said, and to George's surprise he didn't sound angry only defeated. George didn't know which was worse.

"Maybe we can clear a path or something." Rita suggested.

"There are too many of them, and besides where are we going to go?" Marvin asked.

"It's just a suggestion." Rita said.

"I think I've had just about enough of your—"

"Marvin!" Kevin shouted. "She's at least helping, I don't know what the hell you're doing, but it certainly isn't helpful."

"Hey, I saved your ass a few minutes ago, what gives you the right to tell me what to do now?"

"What happened to you Marvin?" Kevin asked.

"Shit, I don't know maybe it's the horde of cannibals that really messed my day up, or the fact that I've lost all of my friends in a matter of hours. How about the fact that we're about to die?"

"Marvin if you want to die, then go die by yourself, but I don't really want to tonight. I've got a lot to live for and I'm planning on surviving." As soon as he was done talking, Kevin lost interest in Marvin and turned to Rita. "What else do you have?"

"That's it really, I just thought that staying here isn't smart, I agree with Marvin on that, but if we can't stay here then we might as well get out. Right now we can't do that, but what if there was some way to, I don't know, safely get out?"

"Like another train." David said.

"Where are we going to get another train?" Yoko asked.

"No, it's a metaphor, another means of transportation that can take us where we need to go. You guys have trucks right? You need that armored stuff for riots."

"We have a paddy wagon, but not anything like SWAT trucks." Rita said with a shrug.

"Could that get us past the horde out there?" David asked.

"I doubt that many, but if we could thin the group, it could withstand maybe three quarters of what's out there."

"Okay, so if we just kill a bunch of them and get the truck out here, then we could go where?" Alyssa asked.

"I don't know." Rita said.

"That's where the plan falls through, where the hell can we go? Where is safe?" Cindy asked.

"That's not the only part that falls short." Marvin said. "The truck Rita's talking about is on the other side of the building; outside of the building to be exact. You'd have to go through those things to get to it."

"There's no way to get there through the station?" George asked.

"No." Marvin shook his head.

"Marvin, what about-?" Rita began.

"No!" Marvin interrupted. "Rita, we can't use that."

"Marvin, we have no choice!" Rita shouted.

"Do you mind letting us in on this argument?" Kevin's voice wavered between anger and impatience.

"Do you remember during your introductory week how the senior officers took everyone around the station and showed you all of the little things left over from when this used to be a museum?" Rita pushed off the wall and waited for Kevin to answer.

"Not really it didn't seem important." Kevin waved for her to continue.

"You should pay attention more often. Anyway, as I said, this used to be a museum, so Chief Irons left some of the museum's precautions in place. I don't mean any of the routine alarms or anything, but the eccentric things that made the museum weird. For example upstairs are some book shelves that you have to put into a certain pattern to get to the circuit board. We mainly leave these things deactivated because they are a pain to deal with, but one of the weirder things was a ventilation shaft that gives someone access to the whole building."

"So we can use that vent to get to the truck?" Yoko asked.

Rita grimaced. "Sort of. There is a very specific way to open it; the owner of the museum was a little crazy as you probably guessed by the book-shelf-puzzle-thing I described earlier. He had the ventilation shaft installed as an escape route. Therefore, the only way to unlock it is to create an attack on the station."

"What do you mean?" Kevin asked.

"We would have to destabilize the station. Break windows, break down doors, anything that you can think of that could make the station think it's under attack." Marvin explained.

"You're talking like the station is alive." George said.

"Not alive, no, but the next best thing. There are sensors on every entrance or exit, on the windows, doors, and everything else you can come in or out of." Marvin threw his hands up and let them slap against his thighs. "We'd have to let the zombies in to get out. Not to mention the fact that it's never been used, we don't know if it will even hold our weight."

"So then I'll go through." Rita said and raised her hand. "I probably weight the least—no offense to anyone—and so if anyone could go through it'd be me. I'll just grab the truck and bring it around front; we'll pile in and go."

"Go where?" Jim asked. "This plan sounds great and all, but where are we going to go?"

"The military has to have some place they are gathering civilians, we can go there." Rita shrugged.

"It doesn't matter we won't even get that far. We need the emblem to even open the entrance to the vent." Marvin sighed.

"So where do we get it?" Kevin asked.

"Not 'it', them. There are five pieces and they're somewhere in the station."

"Then we'll just have to find them." Kevin said.

"You want to search this place high and low, fine by me, but we'd be better off using the map." Marvin descended the small set of steps and walked over to the reception desk. "There's a safe under here with the map in it. Only we can't get to it because we don't have the combination. The crazy bastard took the combination with him to his grave. The only other way to open it is by setting off an emergency."

"It's a catch-22 then." Kevin rubbed his chin as he thought. "We need to start an emergency to get the vent open, but we need to find those emblem pieces first, and in order to find those pieces we need to start an emergency to get the safe with the map in it open."

"Son of a bitch that's insane." Jim said. "Who the hell does that?"

"I said he was crazy." Rita said.

"No shit Sherlock."

"All right, calm down." David said over the others. "What if we just break a window or two, get the map find the emblem pieces and get out of here as fast as possible. The zombies can't get in that fast, right?"

"I haven't even gotten to the good part yet." Marvin grinned. "When we start this emergency certain rooms will periodically fill with a nerve gas."

"You've got to be joking, who the hell was this guy, Charles Manson?" Kevin asked.

"Might as well have been. I don't know why Chief Irons kept that particular feature in the station, but he did. The gas is old so I don't think it would be as effective as it used to be, but I still don't think we could stay in it too long."

"You're talking like you're considering doing this." George said.

"Kevin's right I don't want to die and I can't see any other way out of here right now. If I had a choice I wouldn't do this, but those things took all of my choices away from me." Marvin sighed. "This is as good as suicide, but there's a chance it might work."

"So what else do we need?" Mark asked.

"Isn't that enough for you? Do you want this to be any harder? We only need those pieces to get the vent open. Thankfully, that's all that the previous owner put into place." Marvin looked at the group. "Now, if we get the safe unlocked I think we can split up and get everything as quick as possible."

"And how're we going to do that with only one map?" David asked.

Marvin smiled and reached under the desk. He pulled out a cardboard box full of two-way radios. "Someone can stay behind and give directions over the radios. That way we can have the next best thing to a bird's eye view on this situation and we can get the hell out of here as fast as possible."

Marvin began to pass out the radios as he continued. "Now there is just one more thing I need to tell you. Supposedly, an alarm sounds before the gas is released. I don't know if this is true or not. I guess we'll find out soon, but listen for anything out of the ordinary and get out of the room if you hear it."

"What happens if we can't get out of the room in time?" Kevin strained to keep the worry from his voice, but it slipped through.

"There is a neutralizer, but I don't have any here. I've seen a canister or two around the station so you'll have to find those on your own. Without the neutralizer you had better get out of the room fast. Paralysis will come first and then death. So if you start to feel weak and your legs start to give, you don't have much longer."

An uneasy silence descended on the group just then. Yoko was the first to break it.

"How do we start this 'emergency'?"

Rita raised her hand. "I'm going to start it. Marvin can start the alarm system and I'll go break a few windows and trip some of the laser alarms."

"Is it wise to break the windows?" George asked.

"It won't activate if I don't, it's only in case the station is broken in to. That's why I need to break the windows."

"So what keeps the zombies out then?" Cindy asked.

"There are shutters on all of the windows. They're enough to keep them out for a while." Marvin answered.

"If there are no more questions, just sit here and relax. I'll be back in five minutes." Rita said and started off before anyone could respond.

"Is it okay to let her go by herself?" Mark asked.

"Rita can handle herself. Besides, she's not going very far. Like she said, she'll be back in five minutes." Marvin said as he stared at the door Rita had left through.

"Hey Marvin, I assume some people answered that message of yours, but I don't see anyone else here. Where are all of the other survivors?" David asked.

"Well, that's a good question. We had about twenty people here at one time. Most were too scared to move and only got here because their family or friends dragged them." Marvin sighed. "But, after about an hour or an hour and a half, I can't remember, we found out that one of them had gotten bitten. It was a little kid too. I had to put that thing down myself. After that, they started to leave. It was a trickle at first, but about an hour after the first group left there were only three more people here: some scientist who kept talking about the University and those two over there. They were bitten too, Rita had to take down the big guy, she almost got bit, and that woman there got the drop on me."

"Were you bit?" It was Alyssa.

Marvin hesitated then nodded. "Sad to say it, but yes, I'd rather if you didn't shoot me yet though, I can be of some help."

"There must be a cure somewhere." George suggested.

"Do you think they'd get it to me in time?" Marvin pointed over his shoulder at the three bodies on the floor. "It only took them an hour to turn. I was bit almost two hours ago."

"I've noticed that the incubation time is different for everyone. Some of us might even be immune." George said. "It doesn't mean that you'll turn right away, you may not even change for days. In some way or another, we're each infected and yet none of us have turned yet."

"You've all been bit?" Marvin eyed each of them then continued. "I'll keep it in mind, but I'm not getting my hopes up." Marvin turned from George to the computer. "I really should get this alarm going; she should be just about ready."

Marvin began typing on the computer and soon a beep sounded indicating that the alarm was set. A few moments later a screen popped up showing Rita walking through one of the hallways. The screen flashed red and showed a warning box saying that one of the lasers had been broken. Rita doubled back and broke the laser again. She looked at the camera and gave it a thumbs up before taking a nearby potted plant and throwing it through the window.

As soon as the plant smashed the window, all hell broke loose.

The siren that rung sounded like an air raid warning, it whined louder and louder until it held for a few seconds and then repeated. Red lights started flashing in the main lobby and on the screen. George could see through the monitor that the shutters did activate over the windows.

Rita started to cough. She took out a handkerchief and put it over her mouth and nose as she ran out of the room. It was a few more minutes before she came through the door, shut it and took a few long breaths.

"It works faster than I thought." She coughed out.

"Are you okay?" Kevin ran over to her and took her by the arm. He cradled her elbow in his hand as he led her off to a chair.

"Thanks Kevin, but I'll be fine in a second. I just got more of that gas than I thought." She covered his hand with her own and smiled up at him.

"So was there a noise that let you know there was gas coming?" Alyssa asked loudly. Kevin pulled his hand away quickly and looked away from Rita.

Rita looked from Kevin to Alyssa. "I really couldn't hear anything over the siren, I'm sorry."

"Let me take care of that then." Marvin said and turned to the computer. He typed for about a minute and mumbled to himself. Shortly thereafter, the siren whined once more and died out. "The siren is more of a deterrent than a necessity."

"It's sure as hell going to bring all of the zombies in a five block radius to the station. If we weren't screwed beforehand, we certainly are now." David said. "If this plan doesn't work and the gas doesn't kill us that horde will."

"Then we better not screw up." Marvin said as he opened the safe under the desk. He pulled out a rolled piece of parchment crinkled and weathered at the edges. "He was crazier than I thought, take a look at this. It's like some sort of ancient treasure map."

As Marvin carefully unrolled the paper, George saw the floor plans for both the first and second floor. There were six X's, five marked in black and one larger X marked in red.

"This doesn't look as bad as I thought it would be. At least all of the rooms where the pieces are are still here." Marvin pointed to the red X. "This is the statue there, so that means that the rest of these are the pieces. I say that we go in groups of two."

"So what are the groups?" Alyssa asked.

"That's what I wanted to talk about first." Marvin said. "I think you should stay behind." Marvin looked to Alyssa.

"No, I'm fine, really, I can go." Alyssa protested.

"Alyssa, he's right, you can barely stand on your own right now let alone run. Take some time right now and rest. Doctor's orders." George added.

"But I don't even know this place." Alyssa said.

"That's why Marvin is staying with you." Rita explained.

Alyssa shot her a glare. "Fine."

"Good now that that's settled, I don't know how you want to split the groups up, but I'd rather Rita and Kevin go together. You two can get the ones in the Kennel and the Supply Room." Marvin pointed at two of the black X's that were close together on the map, but separate from the others. "Since you'd be more familiar with the annex and I don't know how bad it is out there. I think that's safest. The rest of you can decide on your own, but do it quickly."

"I'm okay with going with Rita; I'd like to find out more about what happened here since I left anyway." Kevin said joyfully. His mirth ended quickly with one glance at Alyssa.

"Great, we'll take those then." Rita said.

"Okay, what's left then?" David asked.

"Looks like there's one in the interrogation rooms and two upstairs, one of those is in the art gallery and the other is in the chief's waiting room." Marvin looked up from the map. "I'd recommend that the big guy here," he pointed at Mark, "go to the interrogation room, they're usually locked and I don't have a key on me."

"All right, I'll go there, but who's going with me?" Mark asked.

When no one volunteered, David spoke up. "I'll go."

"Good, now how about the art gallery?" Marvin looked around at the group.

"Shit there can't be many up there, I'll go." Jim raised his hand.

"I can go with you." Yoko said.

"Okay, that leaves you two with the waiting room." Marvin pointed at George and Cindy. "If the ladder was down it'd be a straight shot there, but you'll have to go around and through the library upstairs. It's a really roundabout way, but it's the only one that's open right now."

Marvin quickly described the routes for the others. "Great, now that we all know what we're doing, be sure to listen for anything out of the ordinary, and try to find some of that neutralizer if you can, it could save your life."

With nothing left to discuss, they each went their separate ways.


	46. Chapter 46

George opened one of the double mahogany doors and walked cautiously through into the waiting room beyond. The small room was made smaller by the large and ornate center piece spaced equidistant from each wall. Seats adorned the wall on one side of the piece and a counter filled with pamphlets about gang violence, drug use, and DUIs covered the opposite wall.

Cindy walked in behind George and took in the room. "Kind of a sad waiting room huh?"

"And nothing took look at except for that eye sore." George said and nodded toward the center piece. "It must've been pretty depressing."

"I hope they didn't make the people who came to the station wait in here. It'd be no wonder they wanted to leave." Cindy chuckled at her own joke. She covered her mouth and put a hand on his arm.

George found it hard not to laugh himself. The joke wasn't that funny, but he needed to cling to something. He put a hand over the one she put on his arm and laughed with her.

When they recollected themselves, they made their way quickly through the waiting room and into a narrow hallway beyond. George remembered that the hallway was U-shaped from the blue prints when they went over the path they would take with Marvin before setting off. They had to go all the way around and that would lead them to the stairwell up to the second floor. Before they could get too far the radio at Cindy's hip crackled and Marvin's voice came out.

"George, Cindy, can you hear me? I've given-"

"We hear you Marvin." Cindy said into the radio.

"That's great Cindy, but you have to give me a chance to finish, I'll say 'over' to let you know I'm done, okay? Over." Marvin sounded like a parent patiently teaching a child something simple.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Over." Cindy apologized and blushed.

"Anyway, as I was saying, I've tuned each of your radios to a different channel, so if you need to get in touch with me hit the small button next to the one you use to talk back to me. That will send me a signal that you're trying to get in touch with me. Give me a few seconds and then I'll be able to hear you. Why don't you give it a try now? Over."

"Will do Marvin." Cindy said and turned the radio on its side and pushed the button. "How's that? Over."

"Great, now good luck out there. Over." Marvin said and with a soft burst of tinny static, he was gone.

"I feel like some sort of secret agent talking on this thing." Cindy said with a smile.

"Could I be Double-O Doctor?" George extended his index finger and thumb in imitation of a pistol and cupped the hand with his other. He bent his knees and hunched over like he was sneaking around.

"Would that make me the gorgeous girl that bends you to my will?" Cindy laughed.

"Maybe you already are." George said.

"You sir are coming very close to being the sweetest person I know." Cindy smiled.

George held Cindy's gaze for a while and only broke it when the radio crackled again.

"Are you two okay? You haven't moved. Over." Marvin asked.

Cindy jumped and grabbed the radio. "Yes, sorry Marvin, we're okay, we were just…discussing a plan of attack for getting the emblem piece. Over."

"Sure, just get going, the faster you get that piece the faster we can be one step closer to getting out of here." He said and the radio cut off.

Cindy replaced the radio at her hip and looked up at the security camera. "I didn't realize we had an audience."

"Yes, it does feel a bit invasive doesn't it?" George looked from the camera to the hallway before them. "Shall we?"

"Of course Double-O." Cindy said and started down the hallway.

The shutters hadn't activated for this hallway so the windows were left open except for the few that had been shuttered by whatever the police could get their hands on. The first few windows had planks of wood nailed from top to bottom covering the entire window, but soon after the planks became scarce and then entirely replaced by the legs of chairs and parts from desks. Near the end of the hallway three of the windows were left completely exposed. A few zombies wandered blindly outside of the station, not aware yet of the weak point in the station's defenses.

"We had better find a way to get the ladder down in the main hall. I don't want to come back through here when they realize there's an easy way in." Cindy said.

George nodded and said nothing. The hallway was more than just dangerous for them; it was very close to the main hall. They would have to keep vigilant when they got back to the others and tell them of the danger.

The door at the end of the hallway opened out into a larger room with two doors on their right and a stairwell on their left. George considered checking the other rooms for supplies, but Cindy was already starting for the stairs. He turned to follow and then the pain hit.

It was sharp and sudden, flooding through his body like a tidal wave. He uttered a loud cry and before he knew it, he was writhing on the ground. Each cut he got throughout the night felt on fire. His muscles ached and his joints locked. Spasms took him and then the blackness came.

It only lasted for a few minutes, but pain has a way of distorting reality. When his vision cleared, Cindy was kneeling over him crying. She was calling his name, but it was a few seconds before he could hear her. He wanted to reach up and clear the tears from her eyes, but his body wouldn't respond.

"George, what's wrong?" She whispered. "What's happening? Tell me how to make it stop."

"I wish I knew." He mumbled. "It's gone now. I just need a moment to rest."

Cindy helped him into a sitting position and pulled him gently over to the wall. They sat together until George felt strong enough to stand on his own. He took stock of how he felt. His body, while still shaky, felt much the same as before the attack. Was that some sort of symptom of the infection, or was it just his body reacting to what he'd been through during the night?

"I think I'm okay now." George said putting a hand up when Cindy opened her mouth to protest. "No, really, I feel fine and we need to get that piece before they start to worry. Please don't mention this to anyone. I don't need them to worry about me just yet, okay?"

"I think we need to talk about this with someone, if it's part of the…process, we need to know what to do."

"There's no one to tell us what to do," George took hold of her arms, "if I change, then you need to keep me away by whatever means."

"I don't want to talk about that." Cindy stepped away from him and folded her arms as if she was suddenly cold. "Let's just go, it's not too far now."

The upstairs bore resemblances to the museum the station used to be. After walking down a short hallway, they came to a larger opening. Two plain looking busts sat on opposite sides of an ornately carved statue of the top half of a man holding a beautifully cut ruby. There were grates on either side of the opening where George assumed the statues were supposed to sit.

"Wow that's really life-like." Cindy said as she leaned in to get a closer look at the statue holding the ruby. "I wonder what else they left in here from when it was a museum."

"If it's anything like this security system I'll bet it's more practical than beautiful. It probably starts some sort of self-destruct sequence." George said.

"Oh stop it, like they'd really have something like that. You really _do_ think this is some sort of spy adventure." She smiled at him.

"Can you blame me?"

"No, I suppose not we're going after a piece of a puzzle scattered across the station just to activate a secret tunnel." Cindy shrugged and stepped away from the statue. "How much farther do you think we have?"

"I think it's just another hallway, a break room, the library, and then around that upper part of the main hall." George said.

"Then no more distractions, let's get this over with." Cindy took one last look at the statue and continued into the only door in the far corner of the opening. It led into an L shaped hallway with only two doors. One door, half way through the hallway, was labeled as the S.T.A.R.S. office. George knew that the S.T.A.R.S. existed, but he'd never heard what they did. He guessed it was hostage rescue stuff, or if hikers got lost in the Arklay Mountains. He wondered if any of them would be coming to rescue them now.

Cindy and George got through the rest of the hallway and the break room without incident. George walked into the library and marveled. He'd never really had time for books, but on occasion, he went into the Raccoon Library for some local events. It was a small branch near him with a few hundred books, nothing special. This library, however, was two a two story giant with books lining every space on the wall and six large shelves to his left as he entered.

"How did they fit this in here?" He asked.

"It's so big!" Cindy walked over to one of the shelves and picked up a book. "Dickens, Poe, Conrad, these are all classics. Not very light reading here, no wonder there's so much dust on them. Can you imagine Kevin reading these during his lunch?"

"I think he'd use them for target practice first." George took the book from her and flipped through the pages before replacing it. "Come on I think I can hear Marvin, and I remember someone saying no more distractions."

"I've never been one to follow the rules." She said mischievously.

"Oh yeah? You'll have to tell me about that sometime." George said as he walked over to the large wooden double doors that led to the main hall. As he opened them, he heard Marvin talking on the radio to one of the groups.

"No, I don't know where the key is Mark. I don't even know what kind of key it needs." Marvin sounded exasperated.

"It's got a club on it. Maybe it's some sort of club key?" Mark asked.

"I don't know. Just leave it, that's not the room you're supposed to be in anyway. It's in the second interrogation room down the hall. If that door's locked break it down and get that piece." Marvin let go of the talk button and moved to pick up another radio, but stopped when he heard them walk in the main hall. "It's about time, I was getting worried."

"Sorry, we just got hung up a bit." Cindy explained. "The room's over there?" Cindy pointed directly across from them at a single door around the walkway.

"That's the room, but before you get there, let the ladder down so you don't have to walk all the way back." Marvin said. "Just press the button that says 'down' and it should work."

"Marvin, some of the windows in the hallway beyond the waiting room are exposed. I think we need to keep an eye on that." George warned.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, but thanks for letting me know." Marvin said and waved them off. He turned back to the radio he was about to pick up and started to talk. "Yoko, there's a locker room right near you that opens into the roof, the piece looks like it's in there or on the roof, I'm not sure. Over."

"We've looked around there. I don't know what to tell you, I can't find it. Over."

"I hate to do this to you, but could you check in the supply shed outside then? It's still within the station, so there shouldn't be any zombies out there, but be careful. Over."

"We will. Over."

George and Cindy crossed the walkway to the ladder and lowered it. The ladder slid down to the floor below in three quick drops.

"Great, now get back here as fast as you can." Marvin said to them and then picked up the next radio and continued to give directions. Alyssa sat on a chair with her chin cradled in her hand watching one of the radios. She looked up at them and waved.

They waved back and continued into the small door on the other side of the walkway. The room beyond was a mess. A stack of boxes split the room in two with the secretary's desk blocking half of the remaining space. George moved in and stepped around some smaller boxes and nearly fell when his leg got caught on a rack with the same pamphlets from the waiting room downstairs.

"How are we supposed to find anything in here?" Cindy asked.

"I don't know, but we can't sit here and worry about that. Why don't you take that side and I'll look over here." George pointed Cindy to one side of the boxes and he walked over to the other. He lifted the lid of the first box and started rifling through its contents. He threw out papers, books, and other office supplies from the first box. He moved onto the next and then the next before Cindy stopped him.

"Wait, George, did you see that?" She asked.

"What?"

"I don't know. Something just…sparkled." Cindy moved closer to the middle of the stack and pointed up. "Something up there caught my eye. Give me a boost."

George cupped his hands and hoisted her up. She searched around in the top row of boxes and laughed when she found it.

"Got it!" Cindy jumped down and showed him the emblem piece. There was a small green jewel in the emblem that if it was hit by the light sparkled. "It's almost like it was a subtle hint that it was important."

"Thank God for small favors, let's get back before Marvin has a heart attack." George said.

"We wouldn't want him to think you're doing anything untoward Double-O." Cindy said with a grin. She backed toward the door and opened it, only turning when she actually walked through the door. "Marvin, is this what you're looking for?"

"Toss it down, I can't see from up there." Marvin held his hands up to catch the piece. Cindy threw it down and he caught it. He looked at it for a few seconds and yelled up. "Yeah, good job! Come on down."

Marvin was getting a status update from each of the groups when George stepped down onto the lower floor. He heard each of the radios crackle and familiar voices come from each one in order except one.

"Kevin, Rita, someone answer me. Over." Marvin said in to the last radio. "Damnit, drop whatever you're doing and let me know you're okay."

"What's going on?" Cindy asked.

"Kevin and Rita won't answer their radios." Marvin explained. "It's not like Rita to miss a check-in."

"Give it to me." Alyssa said and extended her arm to reach for the radio. Marvin gave her the radio with a sigh. "Kevin, it's Alyssa, please just say something, I'm getting worried."

The radio remained quiet.

"Where did they go?" George asked. He had a vague idea that they went into the equivalent of a basement for the station, but beyond that, he had no idea.

"They were supposed to collect two of the pieces in both the supply room and the kennel. They're pretty close together, so it shouldn't have been a problem to get one after the other." Marvin glanced at Alyssa. "But they didn't answer my check-in. The radio could have just died, but I thought they all had enough of a charge."

"We can go and find out. Tell us how to get there." Cindy offered.

"I don't know if that's a good idea." Marvin said.

"They could be trapped out there for all we know." Alyssa said.

"And all I'm saying is that if they are, we could potentially have four people trapped." Marvin replied.

"That's a possibility, but we can't let them stay out there and you know it." George said.

"I know; I'm just uneasy about this whole thing." Marvin said. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve and groaned. "Fine, I'll tell you how to get there, but you better be quick about it and stay in constant contact."

Marvin leaned over the blue prints and showed them the path Kevin and Rita were supposed to take. He directed them through the Officer's Offices and then through a hallway that led to the basement stairs.

"Just be careful, both of them are competent officers and if they got caught unaware, it's got to be dangerous." Marvin said and reached into his belt. He pulled out his pistol and handed it to George. "I know you guys didn't get any weapons, and there's bound to be more in the supply room, but take this in case you need it. The clip's full so you should be okay. Just don't go overboard with it."

"Thanks Marvin. We'll be back as soon as possible." Cindy said.

They said their goodbyes and left through a single door near the entrance to the building. George went in first with the pistol held out. A cursory look around the office showed a room full of messy desks, but otherwise devoid of life.

"This whole place is creepy. It's like they all just vanished and left everything the way it was." Cindy said.

"I agree I'd rather not be here longer than necessary. Come on." George urged her on and led her through the path between the desks into the small walkway beyond. They took the door on the left as Marvin directed and found another hallway lined with windows. George recognized this one from the video feed of Rita when she broke the windows. Thankfully, the shutters had activated here when she started the emergency system.

They walked quickly down the hallway to the stairs. George cautiously took the stairs first. His footsteps echoed into the area just beyond the stairs. The basement reminded him of the hospital, concrete and clinical. Without any carpeting or any other form of insulation, the basement was cold. George could see his breath as he stepped off the stairs.

"I thought it was September not December." Cindy said with a shiver.

"Here, it's not much, and I'm sweating." George shrugged out of his rain coat and handed it to Cindy.

"You know how to make it sound so appealing." Cindy said and took the coat and put it on. "Where to now Double-O?"

"I don't know, but maybe Marvin does." George said.

Cindy took the radio from her hip and pushed the button to signal Marvin. A few seconds later, he was calling them.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" He asked.

"We're fine Marvin, but we made it to the basement and don't know where to go." Cindy said.

"Okay, the hallway you're in should come to a T. The supply room is on the left, if it's still locked then they didn't go in there yet. They might have gone for the piece in the kennel first. Call me back when you've checked that out, I'll tell you how to get to the kennel. Over."

"I don't see why he doesn't just tell us now." George said.

"You should ask him. Just leave me out of it, I don't want my head bitten off." Cindy put the radio back on her hip and walked to the end of the short hallway. As Marvin said, the supply room was on the left near the end of the hallway. Cindy tried the door but it didn't open. She looked at George and then spoke into the radio.

"It's locked Marvin."

"I figured they'd hit that one last. Okay, double back to the intersection and keep going straight. You should be able to go around the hall to the left. That will take you to an underground garage."

"Okay, hold on Marvin, we're going now. Over." Cindy interrupted and ushered George to go forward.

They walked back to the intersection and followed the hallway around to the left. There was one door at the end of the hall which led out into the garage.

"We're in the garage now Marvin, where to? Over." Cindy asked.

"Just go straight, there's another door across from you that will lead you to one more hallway. The kennel is the second door on your right. Be careful. Over." Marvin said.

"We will." Cindy reassured him and put the radio back. "Let's see what's waiting for us."

"All right, stay behind me though, okay?" George didn't wait for a reply. The garage was still filled with empty police cruisers, each parked in a designated parking spot. He walked around each cruiser, checking for any signs of movement. Eventually they made their way through the room and to the door.

The metallic smell of blood wafted into the garage as George opened the door. Lying on the floor in front of them was the motionless corpse of a Doberman pinscher. Next to the dog's mouth were the remains of Kevin and Rita's radio.

"I really wish we would have gone to the supply room first now." Rita's voice came from around the corner.

"Yeah, me too, but how were we supposed to know these things would be here?" Kevin answered.

"Kevin! Rita!" George called. He led Cindy around the corner into the kennel. Kevin and Rita were sitting on top of an over turned cage. Two dogs were lying at the bottom looking up at them. As George and Cindy entered the room, the dog's heads came up and turned to them.

"George, watch out!" Kevin screamed. The two dogs started out immediately barking and growling as they sprinted toward George. He got off one shot before the first one pounced. The shot went wide and the dog brought him to the floor. The pistol slipped from his hand and slid across the floor.

George pushed an arm under the dog's jaw and just barely managed to miss being bit. Its teeth snapped shut inches from his throat. Growling, the dog tried and tried to get at his throat, but George held it off.

"Shoot it Cindy!" He cried.

Cindy went for the pistol, but the other dog circled around and cut her off. It bared its teeth and leapt at her. She crouched down and covered her head. The dog flew just over her, slamming into the wall behind her. She scrambled toward the pistol on her hands and knees, reaching it as the second dog recovered from the shock of slamming into the wall.

"Push it up!" She screamed.

George used his other arm and shoved the dog's head up farther. As soon as it was far enough, Cindy squeezed the trigger. The dog went limp against George as the second one jumped over him to get at Cindy.

Kevin ran through the door just before the dog jumped and tackled it in the air. He twisted and hit the opposite wall with the dog on top of him. The dog didn't seem to notice. Instead, it just changed its target from Cindy to Kevin.

"Cindy, you can shoot it anytime you want to." Kevin said as he struggled to push the dog's head up.

Cindy shook her head and took aim. Kevin shoved the dog up a little farther and held it there while Cindy squeezed the trigger once more. The dog went limp and fell away from Kevin.

"Thanks, I couldn't hold him much longer." Kevin said as he stood up.

"Thank you Kevin, if you hadn't come when you did, I don't know if I could have handled it." Cindy said.

"We'll all thank each other when we get back to the main hall." Rita cut in. "I got the piece in here, but we still need to get the one in the supply room. Care to join us?"

"That's why we're here." George stood up and brushed himself off.

Cindy picked up the radio and called Marvin. "We found them Marvin, they're all right, and we're heading back now."

"Thank God! Just hurry back and get here in one piece. Over." Marvin said.

"I didn't think he'd worry _that_ much." Kevin laughed. They started to walk toward the garage.

"I think it's Alyssa you should be concerned with." Cindy said.

"That's going to be a fun conversation." Kevin mumbled. He opened the door and let the others take the lead. "I hope I'm not in too much trouble."

"So, are you two together?" Rita asked.

"I think so." Kevin said with a smile.

Rita opened her mouth to say something when all of the car radios turned on at once.


	47. Chapter 47

"I'm calling for George Hamilton, if you can hear me, I need you to listen. George, it's Peter, I've come across some information that I think only you would understand. It's about what's going on in the city right now. I'm at the University, please come. I hope I've gotten onto all of the frequencies, but I'll be trying others." Peter repeated the message once more and then the radios all went silent. A moment later, the radio at Cindy's side crackled and Peter repeated the message again.

As soon as the message was over, George grabbed the radio from Cindy's side and tried to answer back. "Peter! Peter, it's George, what's going on?" He waited for Peter to answer and when no response came, George tried again. "Peter, answer me damn it, what's going on?"

"He must have moved to another channel already." Cindy said and took the radio back from George. "Who was that?"

"He's a friend from medical school. We used to work together at the hospital for a while, but he wanted to do researching instead of surgery so he took a job at the University. I can't imagine how he'd know anything about what's going on right now." George said absent-mindedly. He was too busy trying to piece together the message. Peter had called him to tell him that only _he_ could understand what was happening. Did that mean Peter was involved? Did he find something that fit George's expertise?

"What do you want to do?" Cindy asked.

"I think I have to go." George concluded.

"But that's at least twenty minutes away." Kevin said.

"I'll have to find a way, I can't ignore this. It could be important." George continued. "He wouldn't be trying so hard to get in touch with me if it wasn't important. Kevin, I don't expect you to come, but I expect you not to stop me."

"George, I wouldn't stop you, we've all survived this long only because we've stuck together. What I'm saying is that we didn't know where to go until just a few minutes ago. We can take the van and get there faster."

Before George could answer, the radio crackled. "Can you hear me? Over."

"Yes Marvin we hear you. Over." Cindy answered.

"Good, now what in the hell just happened? Who was that? Over." Marvin asked.

"We're coming back now and we'll explain then, just wait for us." Cindy said and put the radio back in her belt. "We can decide what to do when we get back, but we need to get that last piece first."

"Yes, I almost forgot about that with all that's happened so far." Rita said.

"You should have seen the rest of our night." Kevin laughed. "I'll take the rear, why don't you guys lead."

Rita took point and led them through the door on the opposite side of the garage. They walked around the hall until they came to the supply room. She tried the handle, but the door wouldn't open.

"It's locked." She said.

"We tried it earlier, but we thought you'd have the key for it." Cindy said.

"I don't have the key, that's above my pay grade." Rita said matter-of-factly.

"Don't you think the hierarchy might be put aside in a crisis like this?" George asked.

"I agree, but I didn't have the key before this all happened, so I don't have it now." Rita shrugged.

"Capitan Greeves should have a copy right?" Kevin asked.

"He should, but he's not with us anymore." Rita frowned.

"So he's wandering the halls somewhere in the department?" George asked.

"I suppose he might be—no, wait." Rita tapped her head as she tried to think. "He died early on in the night before we started to take in refugees."

"What does that matter?" Cindy asked.

"Before people started coming to the station we put the officers who died in the autopsy room. I think he was one of the last ones to be put in there." Rita said.

"Let's get the key then." Kevin said and walked over to the autopsy room across the hall. He took out his ID and slipped it into the reader next to the door. The light on the reader switched from red to green and the lock disengaged. "Do you know where he is in here?"

"Yes, I helped put him in." Rita said.

Kevin opened the door and Rita slipped in with her gun drawn. The room was empty except for the storage containers lining the walls and two gurneys to the left of the door. George and Cindy walked in behind them.

"Which one is it?" Kevin asked.

"He's over here." Rita walked to the back corner of the room and reached up to open the small door, but Kevin grabbed her wrist.

"Careful, we don't know if he's turned." Kevin said and stepped back. He trained his pistol on the door and nodded.

Rita took the handle and pulled the door open. The slab slid out and Capitan Greeves remained motionless. Rita pulled the slab out all the way and poked the body. When nothing happened, she searched through his pockets until she pulled out the key ring.

"Got it." She said right before the havoc started.

_THUD_

Two of the small doors burst open and two zombies spilled out onto the floor.

_CRASH_

Another door opened and one more slipped out onto the floor. The first two stood up and shambled toward them. George took aim and shot the first one in the chest. The zombie stumbled backwards, but kept advancing. He shot again, but missed. The bullet hit one of the small metal doors and ricocheted into the floor a few feet from Cindy.

"Stop shooting!" Kevin screamed. "The room's too small."

Kevin kicked one of the zombies as it reached for him and unsheathed a knife at his chest. He stabbed the next one in the throat and tugged the knife so that it tore through its jugular. The zombie collapsed in a bloody heap.

Rita had her knife out as well and was on the third zombie before it could get to its feet. She kicked its arms out as it tried to push itself up and jammed her knee into its back. She stabbed the knife into the base of its skull, pushed up into the brain, and twisted the knife until it stopped moving.

They were running out of the room before the only remaining zombie could get up. The door slid shut behind them. Kevin slid his ID through the reader once more, and the light shifted from green back to red.

"That was…" George began.

"Unexpected." Kevin finished. "Let's just get that piece and get back to the main hall."

It took Rita a few tries before she found the right key on the ring. When they opened the door, the smell of gun oil and leather wafted through the opening. Shelves full of guns and ammunition were on their left and vests and other accessories were on their right.

"The piece should be in the back here." Rita said and walked over to where she pointed. "We kept a drawer for all of the miscellaneous things in the station."

She pulled out the top drawer of a small filing cabinet and took out a cigar box. Rita sifted through jewels and chains until she found the piece she was looking for. "I remember thinking that these little pieces were pretty when they showed me during orientation, but now I really hate them."

"Maybe they'll look better when they're put together." Kevin suggested.

"What do you think about looting the guns from this place? We could really use the supplies." Cindy said.

"We should take what we can and then come back if we have time." Kevin said as he picked up a shotgun. He swung it around his neck and shoulders and put another around the other way. "Don't take too much in case we need to run."

George helped Cindy put a belt with a revolver over her shoulders and then clipped a pistol to his waist. He took a shotgun and put an assault rifle over his shoulder. When everyone was equipped, they made their way out into the hall and up the stairs to the first floor.

The first thing George noticed when he climbed the stairs was that the lights had gone dim. A red glow replaced the bright yellow bulbs. The second thing was the incessant sound of a small bird chirping. He wondered briefly how a bird had gotten into the police station before Kevin turned around and grabbed him.

"Shit, it's starting!" Kevin screamed.

George only had a second to think about what Kevin meant before the gas started pouring from the ceiling. He thought the gas would start choking him, but instead it made him feel good. It was a sweet smell like strawberries. If he hadn't known it would kill him, George might have enjoyed the smell.

"Cover your nose George!" Rita called through her sleeve.

George put his sleeve over his mouth and nose. It cut down on the gas, but enough still leaked through that he could get a whiff of strawberries ever few breaths.

They made their way quickly to the door George and Cindy had come through earlier, but as Rita tried the door, it didn't move.

"God damn it, not now!" She cried. She fumbled for the key ring at her side and dropped the keys. Cursing, she quickly picked them up and flicked through the keys. "Which one!"

"Rita, calm down, but hurry up!" Kevin said.

"I'm trying." Rita tried a key and it didn't fit. "None of these are working."

George could feel his head start to spin and his legs start to shake. He tried to remember what Marvin had said about the gas. _"Paralysis will come first and then death. So if you start to feel weak and your legs start to give, you don't have much longer."_

Rita shook her head and coughed. "It has to be one of these!"

She found the right key near the end of the ring and cried out as the door swung open. The four of them spilled out into the detective's office. Kevin slammed the door shut behind them and fell back against the wall.

"Are you all right?" The radio at Cindy's side squawked.

"We're okay we just need a minute to rest." Cindy answered.

"You scared the hell out of me there. You were in there too long, how do you feel?" Marvin asked.

"I think we're all a bit shaken up, but otherwise we'll be back there in a few minutes." Cindy said. As she put the radio down, Mark and David came rushing into the office.

"Marvin said you were in trouble." David said.

"We were and now we're not." Kevin explained. "Just give us a minute and we'll get back to the main hall."

After a few minutes, David and Mark helped them through the detective's office and the connecting hallway into the main hall. Alyssa limped over to Kevin and threw her arms around him when he came through the door.

"You're such a dumbass." She said.

"I know." He said and hugged her back.

"Now that we're all back here, would you mind explaining what the hell that thing with the radios was about?" Marvin looked at George as he asked.

"The short version is that Peter is a friend from Med School, and he says he knows something about what's going on that only I can understand, but we need to get to the University first." George explained. "I don't know how he hijacked the radios, but I know that we need to head there to find out what's happening."

"We've been in the dark so far, it'd be nice to know what's going on." Yoko said.

"Fine, that's where we'll go. Did you get the pieces?" Marvin asked. "It's getting pretty bad out there now. They've surrounded the gates and are pushing in."

"We got them. Put them in and I'll head out for the truck." Rita gave the two pieces to Marvin and started taking off her belts and weapons.

Marvin placed the last two pieces into the empty slots. The statue slid back and rose up revealing a small ventilation shaft below. Rita would be able to fit, but just barely.

"Here, you may need these." Marvin said and handed her a pistol with two extra clips and a small flashlight.

"Good luck." Alyssa said as Rita began to squeeze into the shaft.

"Thanks you too." Rita said and crawled into the darkness beyond.

They watched the small beam of light from her flashlight until it disappeared around a bend in the shaft. Everyone stood around for a few more minutes watching the darkened shaft. George thought about how much of their survival was resting on Rita. If she didn't come with the van, they were as good as dead. With the zombies crowding around the station blocking off the exits, it wouldn't be long before they breached the outer gates and forced their way into the station.

Before George could start to panic, Marvin stepped in front of the shaft. "We can't sit around with our thumbs up our asses. She won't be able to get through that horde out there. It's our job to thin it out as much as possible so we can open those gates and let her through." Marvin picked up a rifle from the extra pile of weapons and tossed it to David. "We've got a stock pile of weapons and ammunition now we just need to go out there and use it. They're behind the gate so just take your time and pick your shots. We're not in a rush, but don't play around either. Everyone take a gun and line up outside."

The number of zombies outside was intimidating. George wondered if they would have enough ammunition to take down this many zombies. He felt the extra clips in his pocket and counted five. He had less than seventy rounds on him and the others were in a similar situation. _Every shot counts_. He thought and took a step closer.

Marvin started the shooting. At first, there were long pauses between each shot as everyone carefully chose their targets. After a few minutes, the shots quickened as they hit a flow. George hit his around the second clip. With every squeeze another zombie went limp, but there was always another to take its place. The zombies seemed to be filling in the gaps in the line as soon as they appeared.

"This is hopeless, there's too many of them!" Jim said.

"He's right; concentrate your fire at the doors. Carve a path around the outside and use the bodies to form a wall." Marvin instructed.

As the bodies fell around the outside of the doors, they formed a makeshift corridor of corpses. The zombies on the inside were funneled into a small area where they could not move. The zombies on the outside of the corpse wall either fell over the bodies or slipped and added to the blockage.

That was when Alyssa collapsed.

Kevin was the first to react. He put his rifle down and screamed to her. "What's wrong? Tell me what I can do! George, come here!"

Marvin yelled at anyone who stopped firing, but stole a glance at Alyssa as George knelt down next to her.

Alyssa squirmed and screamed quietly as the virus progressed inside her body. George turned her on her side and held her still.

"What's wrong with her? Why aren't you doing anything?" Kevin took George by the shoulders and shook him.

"This isn't from her wounds, it must be the virus. We need to get to the university soon." George whispered to Kevin.

"She's not…turning is she?" Kevin asked.

"Not yet, but I can't imagine she'll hold out much longer." George said and then added. "We'll have to keep an eye on her Kevin."

"Don't say that George. Don't you say that! She's not one of them." Kevin grabbed George by the collar.

"Then stay with her Kevin, you watch her and you take care of her. She would want that anyway."

Kevin let go of him and looked down at Alyssa. He put a hand on her head and smoothed her ruffled hair. "Yeah, I guess she would."

Alyssa's convulsions slowed and then stopped. "Kevin?" Her voice was shaky.

"I need to get back to the line." George said.

"I'm here Alyssa, I'm here." He bent down and kissed her.

George stood up and left quietly. Marvin grabbed him as he was walking back into line.

"That's how they all started." Marvin briefly looked over to Kevin and Alyssa. "It wasn't more than an hour after that they changed."

"Then we really need to hurry." George said and continued back into line.

"How is she doing?" Cindy asked when he made his way back.

"Bad."

"Was it the same thing that happened to you?" She asked near to a whisper.

"I think so."

"So how are you?"

"Worse." George said. He took aim again and started firing. For a second he thought he could feel the virus slithering through his body, but he shook it off as his imagination. _They all changed in less than an hour._ He thought.

"Hey, do you hear that!" Marvin screamed. A mechanical hum rumbled around the corner. "She's here get ready!"

The armored van screeched around the station, taking out huge groups of zombies as it drove a little past the gate. Rita backed into the corridor they created for her, bouncing over both moving and nonmoving zombies alike. She didn't slow at the gate as George had thought she would. Instead, she smashed right through and stopped before she cleared the gate. With the van in the gateway, the zombies had trouble getting through the gates. Mark and David quickly put down the few stragglers that managed to make it past the van.

Rita opened the rear doors and beckoned them into the van. "Sorry it took so long, I stopped to gather a few more supplies." In the middle of the van were three large packs full with boxes of ammunition. "Someone had planned on leaving with this, so I thought I'd take what they left."

"It was probably Irons. That prick would leave us to die if it saved himself." Marvin cursed.

Everyone filed into the van, but Marvin took a step back. "I'm sorry Rita, I can't go."

"What? Why?" Rita asked. "Marvin, stop playing around and get in the van."

"No, I can't Rita. I can feel it coming on. I don't want to put any of you in danger. Besides, there might be more people out there coming to the station. I want to be able to tell them where to go." Marvin turned away and started for the station.

"I'm coming back for you Marvin. I don't care what you say." Rita called after him.

He turned back around. "Just go Rita, leave me here and go with them. It's not worth it."

"Aw man, these zombies are crowding around the van, if we don't get out of here soon we won't be able to go." Jim said.

Rita shot him a look and shut the back doors. She stormed through the back of the van and sat down in the driver's seat. Without a word, she pushed the gas pedal to the floor and sped off toward the University.


	48. Chapter 48

Raccoon University seemed nearly untouched by the events of the night. The building looked to be intact and the few cars that remained in the parking lot sat as if simply waiting for their over-worked owners to finish pulling another long night. Even the outer gate was still shut for the night. The only indication that something was different was that none of the lights were on.

Rita pulled up to the gate and stopped the van. "This is as far as I go."

"Rita you can't go back." Kevin pleaded. "You can come with us. He wanted you to get out of here."

"He is my best friend in that station Kevin. He trained me since I was a rookie. I am _not_ going to throw him away like some piece of trash." Rita waited for Kevin to say something and when he didn't, continued. "You may take two of the bags, leave the third for me."

"We might need it though." Mark said.

"You can take two bags or leave them all." Rita said.

Mark opened the bags and sifted through their contents. After he opened the last bag, Rita stood up and grabbed it from him. "Take those two and get out, you're wasting time."

"Do you even know what's in there?" Mark asked.

"Yes, now get out."

Mark opened his mouth to say something, but Kevin cut him off.

"Mark, let's just go. Try to come back to us Rita. We'll have our radios on when you've got Marvin." Kevin said and picked up the two remaining bags. He handed them to Mark and nodded for the rest of them to leave the van.

George watched Kevin walk up to Rita and say something to her. He put a hand on her shoulder. Rita reached up and covered his hand with hers. They stood there for a few seconds and then Kevin was climbing down from the van. As soon as he shut the doors, Rita turned the van onto the street and started back the way they had come.

"She's crazy." Jim said.

"She's desperate." Kevin corrected.

David walked over to the gate and slid it open. "We'd better get inside before any of those zombies show up."

After as cursory search of the cars, they made their way into the main office building. It was darker inside than George had anticipated. The windows were frosted so any light that could have come through was muted, and the street lamps outside were shut off adding to the darkness.

"What now?" Alyssa asked.

"We'll have to find where to turn the power on at." George suggested. "I think there is a security room nearby. I just don't remember where."

David flicked on a small flashlight from his bag. "Does anyone else have a light?" He asked.

"I've got one on my gun, but that's it." Kevin said. He took his .45 back from Alyssa and flicked on the light. It was blindingly bright in the darkness. As he passed it around the hall, the light revealed a massive set of double stairways that split off into opposite directions after a short flight of stairs in the middle of the room. The second floor consisted of a balcony overhead that connected to the two stairways and followed the perimeter of the room. On their floor, there were four doors besides the entrance. There was one in each corner of the room.

"Which one do we go in?" Yoko asked.

"I was only here once or twice when Peter first started, but I think there's a security check point in that room there." George said and pointed at the door to their left. "You have to go through it to get to the upper offices."

"That seems as good a place to start as any other." Cindy said.

"We could cover more ground if we split up." Yoko suggested.

"I'd rather not take any risks. We should stay together until we find George's friend." Kevin told her. He waited for anyone to object, but they all seemed cowed enough to agree. Even Yoko gave a half-hearted shrug.

George followed Kevin to the door and took Alyssa from him when Kevin moved to open the door. Kevin swung into the room and made a cursory sweep before letting anyone else in. Inside, the room was half-filled with lockers and half-filled with a monitoring system comprised of numerous screens and buttons. It looked like a space shuttle control panel to George.

"Does anyone know how to work this thing?" George asked.

"If you give me some time I should be able to figure it out. We had one like this in the station. I was almost done training on it before all of this shit happened." Jim explained and started typing on the console. The screen flashed on and he input some commands that brought up another menu. George couldn't follow him after that. Menus bounced in and out, as he searched for something. "Okay, it looks like this place still has full power, but it's shut off in the administrator's office. According to the map," Jim navigated through some more menus and brought up a map of the building, "that should be right across the hall and through some offices."

"Jim, that was amazing." Cindy said.

"It was nothing." He said with a smile. "The one at the station is ancient compared to this one, so I just followed the steps it told me to take."

"So how do we turn the lights back on?" David asked.

"That I don't know. We have to go to the administrator's office and find out there." Jim said.

"Who wants to bet we have to solve some ancient riddle to turn it back on?" Mark asked and laughed at his own joke.

George joined him and soon everyone was laughing. They walked back into the main hall and a thought occurred to George. "Something is wrong with this city."

"Are you just figuring that out now?" Alyssa asked.

"I mean besides the obvious. Think about it; think about all of the crazy things that we've had to do to get to where we are. Think about how each of the places we've survived was built and how one way or another something made us backtrack, search for some inane object, or," George motioned to Mark, "solve some ancient riddle just to get out. It's like someone designed this city to be as labyrinthine as possible to make escape more difficult."

"What are you saying?" Cindy asked.

"I'm just pointing out that some of our troubles don't seem to be accidental. I'm not sure that we're being _targeted_, but it's unlikely that our city is built as convolutedly as it is purely by coincidence." George said with a shrug.

"Before this started I would have called you a lunatic, but I can see what you're saying." Kevin said.

"A couple of hours ago I would have agreed with you, but something is amiss in this city. Frankly, I just want to get out of here as fast as possible. I only wanted to say that someone might not want us to leave is all." George said.

"That's a scary thought." Yoko added.

Jim's directions were accurate. Kevin opened the single door at the other end of the hallway and entered into a long office-like room. George thought it looked more like a small library or research room with two long tables splitting the room in half and two sets of three computers facing the walls on opposite sides of the room. Kevin flashed the light around quickly revealing book shelves and tall potted plants.

"The office is just through that door over there, let's go." Jim said.

Kevin stepped gingerly around the first table and started up the left side of the room. He aimed the gun around the room as he moved like a frazzled light designer looking for the lead in a play. He skirted around an upended chair and stopped.

"Do you hear that?" He asked.

George listened and couldn't discern anything other than his own heartbeat. He was about to say something when he heard it. A soft rasping noise followed by a muffled _thud_.

Kevin turned toward the noise and waited. After a minute of silence, Kevin inched forward. A few feet ahead to the right one of the plants ruffled and the pot moved. Kevin trained the light on the plant and took another step closer. He showed them his palm in an effort to get them to wait. With the rest of them standing back, Kevin walked a little farther up, remaining on the opposite side of the table from the plant. The plant shook and moved again.

Suddenly a large black rat jumped from behind the pot and scurried along the wall toward a small hole near the administrator's door. Kevin yelped and slammed his fist down on the table. He bent over and placed a hand over his heart.

"That scared the shit—"

A woman lunged from behind a partition screaming incoherently. She grabbed a hold of Kevin and sunk her teeth into the meaty flesh between his shoulder and neck.

"No!" Alyssa screamed and pushed off George. She fell as soon as she tried to stand on her own.

The woman tried to pull back, but Kevin reached around and held onto her head with his free hand. With the gun, he crossed over his body and calmly squeezed the trigger. The woman stopped struggling and went limp, sliding from Kevin's grip as he let go. Kevin slumped down next to the body.

"George, please look at this." Kevin said and then repeated, "George, please look at this." He pointed feebly at the spot on his neck where the woman had bitten him.

George walked over and knelt down beside him. Kevin asked him again to look at his shoulder as George was moving Kevin's shirt out of the way. George took the gun from Kevin and aimed the light at his neck. There was blood.

"Is it bad?" Kevin asked hollowly. "Did it puncture the skin?"

George wiped away the blood and saw nothing but fresh skin. It must have been the woman's blood.

"Kevin," He started happily, and then stopped. Two small droplets of blood formed near the start of his back. "You're…" George stopped himself from saying "fine," and hesitated. "I…I'm sorry."

Kevin sighed and dropped his chin to his chest. For a moment, he was silent and then he spoke in what George thought was forced confidence. "Well, at least I can join the party now then. If I wasn't infected before I sure as shit am now." Kevin stood up and adjusted himself. "We were going to find a cure anyway, right? I was probably already infected somehow."

"Of course, we're going to find a cure anyway. It's nothing to worry about." George reassured him.

"Did any one see her? I mean, she came out of nowhere right?" Kevin laughed and took his gun back from George. "Let's just get these God damn lights back on."

Kevin walked the rest of the way to the administrator's office quickly, checking every space immediately hidden from sight. He opened the door and swung into the office. Once clearing the room, he let the others in to the office.

"Now we need to find something that looks out-of-place." Jim said.

They scattered around the room and started moving objects. George began at the large bookshelf. He meticulously pulled each book out far enough so that any hidden lever would catch, or button would press. It made him feel like he was in an old '40s horror movie, but after the ludicrous things he'd already done nothing was beneath suspicion.

He'd only made it most of the way through two shelves before David called everyone to stop what they were doing and come to him. He stood over a notebook with his small flashlight in hand. The notebook contained numbers, many repeating, and each meaning nothing to them. David backed away and shrugged. George moved in to get a closer look.

_ 8  
8  
8  
8  
8_

Something seemed odd about the numbers, something he couldn't put his finger on. Jim gave up next and started pulling on random objects. One-by-one they gave up and went back to searching the room until only George, Alyssa, and Yoko remained.

"What do you two think?" George asked.

Yoko tapped her chin and kept quiet.

"I think it has to do with the repeating numbers, maybe we have to input 4508 somewhere? Is it a password?" Alyssa said.

"That's what I was thinking. Maybe that computer Jim was on has a place to put in a password?" George said.

Yoko grabbed the notebook suddenly and turned it away from her. She studied it for a few seconds and then turned it again. "You're both wrong, look at the numbers again." Yoko said and pointed at the 4's first. She traced them around the other numbers. "The numbers spell out the real number. The '4's' make a '0', the '5's' make a '2', the '0's' make a '5', and the '8's' make another '0.' The code is 0250."

"It looks so obvious now that I know what to look for. Great job Yoko!" Alyssa said and playfully punched her in the arm.

"Now we just need to find out where to put in the numbers." George mused.

"I think I can help with that." Jim said. He pushed up on a small painting in the corner of the room. It slid up easily on hidden tracks and revealed a button in a recess in the wall. Jim pushed the button. It lit up a bright orange in the darkened room, but nothing else happened. "I thought that might actually do something."

"Nothing gained, nothing lost. Let's just keep looking." Kevin said.

Jim shrugged and pushed the button again to turn it off. The light faded and a clock rung.

"Don't touch it again." Kevin walked over to the clock and shown his light on its face. "Okay, push it now."

Jim pushed the button and the orange light popped back on.

"Well, I'll be damned." Kevin said. "Take a look at this."

George walked over and saw two sets of hands on the clock. One set was built into the clock and read 9:28, which was probably the time the power shut off. The other set, was only visible _through_ the face of the clock, like a shadow set of hands.

"I don't know that this helps us though, there's no place to input numbers." George said. He opened the glass door to where the pendulum sat motionless and felt along the inside. He only found the key used to set the time on the clock and two holes where it could be used. "Maybe that button did something to the computer, we should check it out."

"Wait, George, before we leave can you try something?" Yoko asked. "Can you set the time on the clock?"

George understood what she wanted to do and it made sense. He hadn't put the numbers and the clock together as she had, but now that she brought it up George could see the connection. It wasn't a password, but a time. "Yeah, I think I can, and I see what you want to do."

He slipped the key into the first hole and turned the clock. The .0He slipped the key into the first hole and turned the clock. The shadow hands spun quickly, the long hand whipped around the circle and forced the small hand to move. George heard the clock _click_ when he finished setting it to 2:50. There was a low whirling noise and the lights flicked on abruptly.

The clock rang suddenly and a small door popped open. A sculpture of a bird slid out and flapped its wings in time with the ringing. There was a small red gem in the center of the bird's breast, which gleamed in the soft lighting of the lamps.

"What is that?" Jim asked.

George twisted the gem out from the bird and turned it over in his hand. The gem came together at a point, but the point looked manufactured to be inserted into something. There was an "R" etched inside of the gem. "I have a feeling we'll need this shortly." George said and put the gem into his bag.

"We should get back to the computer now and find out where Peter is." Cindy reminded them.

The computer screen still showed the map Jim had brought up before they left. With a few keystrokes, Jim closed the map and brought up a directory. He flipped through the employment log until he found what he was looking for.

"That's strange…" Jim trailed off and clicked around some more.

"What is it?" George asked. He leaned over Jim's shoulder, but the screen looked like gibberish to him.

"It won't tell me where his office is." Jim said.

"What _does_ it say?" George asked.

"Nothing much," Jim motioned toward the monitor and continued. "It admits he works here, but other than that everything is gone. Either they never kept a record of him, or someone came through and deleted everything."

"That's a pretty big setback. We could be here for hours just searching through all of the rooms." Cindy said. "George, do you remember where his office was?"

George cradled his head in his hand as he thought. "I think I remember it being on the second floor."

"That's a start." Kevin said with a shrug. "We can go and look around up there, and if nothing turns up, we're no better off than we are now."

"Now that the power's on, I can try the elevator." Jim said and turned back to the computer. He flew through the menus, stopping only when he reached an error message. "Why am I not surprised? Someone locked the elevator down. We need a password to get it working again."

"We can't do anything with it now, might as well take the stairs then." Mark suggested.

"As much as I'd love to go and investigate with you all, I think I need to sit this one out." Alyssa said. With Kevin's help, she sat down on one of the seats near the computer. "I have one killer of a headache, and I'm just about to the point of exhaustion."

"Where does it hurt Alyssa?" George asked and approached her. He knelt down and looked into her eyes. Tiny red veins swelled in her eyes making them look more red than white.

"Where doesn't it hurt is a better question." She said.

"Your eyes are all blood shot. You should stay put until we find out what Peter's up to. Someone should stay with you too."

"I was already going to do that, but now that it's Doctor's orders I feel better about it." Kevin said and sat down next to Alyssa. She took his hand in hers and nodded.

"Keep an eye on her and radio me if anything changes." George tapped the radio at Cindy's side.

"Will do." Kevin said and waved goodbye. The rest of them all said their goodbyes and went back out into the hall.

With the lights on, George took a better look around the hall and noticed that there was a space behind the staircase. The only thing of note in that space, however, was a stuffed moose head. It wasn't a normal moose head either, while most of the head was intact, the eyes were missing. He found it odd that someone would put up such a macabre decoration, but also put it where no one would really see it.

He was going to say something, but they were already climbing the stairs to the second floor. On the second floor, the balcony ran around the walls of the entrance hall leaving a large empty space in the middle. However, the only door on the second floor was in the far right corner. They crossed quickly to the door and went through.

Mark went through first and shot the single zombie standing halfway into the narrow corridor onto which the door opened. It dropped down dead and they walked passed it to a bend in the hallway. There were two doors opposite each other just beyond the bend.

"Which door first?" Jim asked.

"I know we probably shouldn't, but why don't we just go into both. George, Cindy and I can go into the right one, and you three can go into the left. We're not terribly far from each other. Just scream if you need help." David said.

Mark considered for a moment and then shrugged. He walked over to the right door and walked through with Jim and Yoko in tow.

David cautiously opened the right door, and, upon finding it empty of monsters, motioned for George and Cindy to go in first. The first thing George noticed was the most spectacular grand piano he had even seen. However, his amazement at the piano was short-lived because a gigantic marble statue took up most of the opposite wall. It was of an almost completely naked man done in the style of ancient Greek sculptures. The man had to stand at least nine feet tall from the base to the head. Adding to the height of the statue, however, was his arm, which was held up in the air. Clutched in the hand was a small blue gem that reminded George of the red one they had found in the Cuckoo Clock.

"Hey, David, give me a boost please?" George said and pointed at the gem.

"Sure." David cupped George's foot and pushed him up to the gem's level.

George grabbed the gem and pulled, but it would not move. The statue's fingers were holding it tight. He wasn't going to be able to make it come out.

"Forget it, it's in there pretty good." George said.

"What's so special about it?" Cindy asked.

"It's probably nothing, but it reminds me of this one." George took the red gem out of the bag and showed it to them.

"The cut does look the same." David noted. "Do you think it means anything?"

"I'm not sure, but it can't hurt to keep these things." George said.

"We're going to have to figure out how to get it down then." Cindy mused.

"Do you think we can force it?" David asked.

"I'm not sure, but I doubt it. It felt like it was built into the statue." George said.

"Let me take a look at it, can you give me a hand George?" Cindy asked.

"Sure." He cupped his hands and hoisted her up. She wasn't particularly heavy, but George's strength was waning from the long night, so he placed her on his knee and hugged her legs to his chest.

"You're getting a bit friendly there George." Cindy said with a laugh.

"I like to try and make a lasting impression on a lady." He said.

"So, what do you see up there?" David asked.

"Sorry." Cindy said and turned back to the statue. "I think George's right, I don't think we're going to be able to—wait."

Cindy blew on the statue and cleaned some of the dust off with her fingers. "There're grooves here were the joints would be. I think the fingers open somehow. Put me down."

George lowered her to the ground.

"That gem is supposed to come down, but how?" Cindy asked.

"What does the plate at the bottom of the statue say?" David asked.

George bent down and read the inscription aloud. "'Speak to me in the tongue native to all people.'"

"I don't understand, what are we supposed to say?" David asked.

"Anything I guess, but it has to be in a language everyone can understand." George said.

"How many different languages are there? Over a hundred by my guess." David said. He threw up his arms and let them fall back down to his side. "I barely know English let alone another language. How the hell are we supposed to go through all of those?"

"May be we're not supposed to. All of those languages vary from country to country. So, if you think about it, we can eliminate all of them. There are only a few languages prevalent between all countries." Cindy said with a smile and walked back toward the door. She stopped in front of the piano. "The only one I can think of that we can do right now, is music."

"In hindsight, it seems pretty obvious now." George said. "Can anyone play that?"

"I took lessons when I was younger. Someone left some sheet music here, but you'll have to give me a few tries to get familiar with the song, but I think I can do it." Cindy said while looking at the sheet of music. She sat on the wooden bench in front of the piano and began to work out the notes and chords. After a few strained attempts, the music began to flow more steadily like a dammed up river after some of the rocks are removed. Finally, Cindy managed to play the song from beginning to end flawlessly.

When she finished, she placed her hands in her lap and looked over the sheet once more to see if she had made any mistakes. The statue's arm began to move while she was still reading. It slid down until it came to the statue's waist-level. Slowly, the fingers uncurled and the gem fell down into the statue's palm. George scooped it up and looked at it. Etched into the gem was a small "L." He put it in his bag.

"Are we done here then?" David asked.

Before George could answer, a muffled gunshot sounded from the direction of the other room. David was the first one out the door and into the hallway. He ran across the hall and into the next room. Mark was already coming out of a door on the opposite side of the room.

"We're fine. We just got surprised by a zombie in a closet." He held his hands up to calm the others down. "Gave us a good scare though."

"Did you guys find anything? 'Cause, we found shit besides some ammo."

"We just found another one of those gems that we found in the clock downstairs." George explained. "Let's just check the rest of the hallway and go back down to the security office if we find nothing."

The rest of the hallway was empty except for a single stone bust of a past University President. Yoko found two small oddly shaped holes on either side of the statue's head that looked like imperfections in the craftsmanship to George. However, he made a note of it because anything in this building could be a puzzle or a clue.

On their way back to the security office, George got a second look at the deer's head behind the staircase. Something, perhaps the realization at the President's statue that anything could be a clue or a puzzle, made him stop and walk over to it.

"What's the matter?" Yoko asked him.

"I just want to check something out. I'll meet you in the other room." George waved them off, but Cindy stayed back and walked over to the head with him.

"What are you thinking?" She asked.

"I really don't know, but doesn't it strike you as odd that this would be hidden behind the staircase instead of out where people could see it?" He asked.

"May be they didn't want to scare any prospective students away with it. Look at how creepy it is!" She said. "I mean why would anyone cut the eyes out? That's pretty sadistic."

George didn't respond, instead he reached up and felt the deer's snout. He was looking for hidden switches, or buttons, or anything else that could answer that nagging feeling in the back of his mind. When he finished with the deer's head, he probed the empty eye sockets.

"George, what are you doing?" Cindy asked.

George started to say something, but stopped when he found what he was looking for. The sockets weren't smooth like he expected. Instead, there were grooves carved into the skull. As he slid his fingers around the caves where the eyes had been, they bumped against large and straight cuts that went all the way down into the skull to a single point. He tried to envision what was supposed to be placed in the eye sockets, but he couldn't imagine it.

"There's something wrong about the eyes." He said.

"Yeah, they're not there." Cindy explained.

"No, come here." George motioned for her to come closer. He took her hand when she did, and placed her fingers inside the sockets. "Do you feel it?"

"What the hell?" Cindy asked. "It goes to a point."

"I know, but what could it mean?"

"George, what has grooves and goes to a point?" Cindy asked as if she were a professor trying to make a student figure out an answer. She smiled and waited for him to realize that it was—

"The gems!" George let go of her hand and dug around in his bag until he found both gems. The "R" and the "L" made more sense now. George gave the blue gem to Cindy and put the red gem in himself. When they had placed both gems in, the wall behind them slid into the floor revealing a small staircase under the larger one.

"Should we get the others?" Cindy asked.

"Let's just take a look first and see if it's anything important." George said and took her hand. They walked down the dark stairs side-by-side. At the bottom of the stairs, George could see a small light flickering and casting shadows at the last few stairs.

The room at the base of the steps was less of a room and more of a hiding-hole. It could not have been bigger than a hotel bathroom, yet it was more cluttered than most supply closets. A man sat hunched over at a desk in the far corner. At first, George pulled out his pistol, ready to shoot if the man was really a zombie, but then he noticed the pistol at the man's side and the blood leaking from his head. He apparently could not handle the gravity of the night and choose to escape in his own way.

"I don't think there's anything here that could help us." Cindy said.

"I think you're right." George turned with Cindy to leave, but noticed some of the paperwork tacked to the wall. The hand writing looked familiar…

"Oh God, no!" He said suddenly and ran to the man at the desk. "Peter…"


	49. Chapter 49

"Oh God, Peter!" George cried. He took a step forward and fell to the ground. His leg wouldn't respond, but he didn't notice. He crawled toward Peter and pulled himself up. Cindy was saying something and pulling him to his feet, but he didn't listen. Peter's hand was still clenched around the pistol. His blood pooled around his face congealing into one dark mass, hiding the hole from the bullet in a patina gore. "No, no, no!"

George shook Peter and screamed his name repeatedly. He would have continued, but Cindy pulled him away. She combed his hair with her fingers and whispered into his ear, but George didn't hear. When the initial shock wore off and George tried to focus on Cindy's words, he realized that his leg muscles were knotted so badly he couldn't feel anything besides pain. He screamed and fell onto Cindy. She managed to push him into the only other chair in the room. Cindy bent down and lifted up his pant leg.

"Oh God!" She screamed, "George, your legs!"

"I can't see them, what's wrong?" George moaned.

"They're turning purple and your muscles are so tense."

"The color's superficial for now, but that's not a good sign." He pounded his fist against the arm rest. "I can't move like this, I need you to help me. I need you to massage my legs, I have to loosen up or else I won't be able to move." George explained.

"Fine, but you're going to have to explain what we're going to do now if Peter is dead." Cindy said. Then added, "and I'm sorry for your loss."

George looked at Peter's body. "I said Peter was a friend from college. That, in-and-of-itself, was not a lie, but wasn't completely true. I grew up with Peter. I was an only child, but I considered Peter to be the closest thing to a brother I've ever known. If he has something only I could understand, then he must have left me a clue or some message."

"When you can walk we should take a look around. You said you've only been here once or twice?" Cindy asked.

"I didn't see him much after med school. We fought over the same woman and I won. Biggest damn mistake of my life." George growled out the last part. "He took me on a tour when he first got the job, but I was too anxious about whether he hated me or not to really care. Hindsight is making me wish I'd taken notes." He laughed.

Cindy smiled, but didn't laugh. "We can't all be psychic. Maybe something in here will spark a memory."

"I should be okay now actually."

"You still feel pretty tense. I don't mind doing a few more minutes."

"I had better just walk it off. That will loosen me up pretty good." George said. "Thanks."

"George, you'll be fine, there's a cure out there somewhere." Cindy said as she stood up.

"Perhaps, but it's not worth worrying about now." He said and stood up carefully. It hurt to move, but he could manage. Stretching for a few seconds seemed to help calm his muscles.

He avoided looking at the desk at first, instead looking at the newspaper clippings. They were all surrounding the attacks on hikers in the woods that sparked an investigation by a S.T.A.R.S. team. A thumb tack was pinned into one of the clippings and, with a red strand of yarn tied to the tack, it was linked to another article about another S.T.A.R.S. team being sent in to find the first team. Peter had written "_Dead?"_ next to the first article.

Another strand of the red yarn went from the second article to a third. The third one was dated only six months ago. Survivors of the botched rescue attempt blamed Umbrella for some freak accident and some sort of chemical leak, but the accusations were unfounded and blamed on PTSD from seeing their partners die in a helicopter crash. Peter wrote "_Lies?"_ next to that article and finally linked it to the last article closest to his desk.

The last article, dated almost four months ago to the day, was about Umbrella collaborating with the police force to cut down on drugs in the city. In Peter's scrawl, "_Irons is bought_," was written next to the article. Peter circled the next part of the clipping that discussed Umbrella's new line of ibuprofens called Usprin. _"Contaminated_."

George stared at the clippings for a few minutes. So Peter decided to listen to those lunatics from S.T.A.R.S.? George remembered watching Officers Valentine and Redfield call for an end to Umbrella, but he hadn't known what to think about them. The hospital almost exclusively used Umbrella products. Umbrella just about funded the whole surgery ward when he was working there. It was too difficult for George to believe that they had any hand in those attacks in the mountains.

Yet wasn't that what Peter was saying? For some reason he believed in this conspiracy. Good people had done bad things in the past, what's to say Umbrella, in all of their benevolence toward the hospital, could have blinded him to their true nature. It was a lot for George to take in, so he did what he always does and ignored it.

Turning from the clippings to the desk, George took a deep breath and pulled Peter back. A few more droplets of blood leaked out, but Peter was cold to the touch and rigor mortis was in the beginning stages. If he had made that call himself, he must have died soon after.

George put Peter's body reverently in the corner and went back to the desk. The area covered by the blood was thankfully mostly bare. Some of the papers he had been working on were tinged with his blood on some of the corners, but everything was still legible.

The pile of papers were mostly more notes about Umbrella, and if George didn't know Peter as well as he did, he would have seen them as the notes of a mad man. However, one of the papers was odd, it was a sequence of numbers that seemed familiar to him. He's seen a pattern like this before, but he couldn't place it.

"What did you find?" Cindy asked. She walked over and looked at the paper. "This looks like gibberish."

"Maybe it is, but I've seen something like this before, and I can't place where." George sat in the chair opposite Peter's body and ruminated on the pattern as he looked at Peter. "What is this?"

"Did you two have a secret language or something?" Cindy asked.

"No, nothing like that, we weren't good enough at languages to do that, the closest thing we had to a second language was Morse—" George furrowed his eyebrows and took a second look at the pattern. He nodded his head in time with the letters the numbers would represent. He sighed and sat back, it didn't make sense as Morse code. He tapped his fingers along the wooden arm rest nonetheless as he thought. He tapped out the numbers instead of letters. After tapping out all of the numbers and working his way back to the first line he stood up. "You sly son of a bitch! I nearly forgot!"

"What?" Cindy asked.

"We cheated!"

"You cheated?"

"Now's not the time for judging Cindy." George waggled his finger at her and started shuffling through the papers on Peter's desk. "There has to be a cypher here somewhere or it doesn't make sense!"

"I wish I could help, but you need to give me a little more than that." Cindy said.

"We used to cheat in college, helping each other out on tests by tapping out a question number we needed help with. If the question was more advanced than a simple math problem, or a multiple choice answer, we'd find words on the paper to help formulate an answer. We'd communicate through taps."

"Wouldn't Morse code be easier?"

George stopped going through the papers and shrugged. "We got caught once, the professor knew Morse code and so we had to develop our own form of communication."

He shuffled some more papers around and nothing stood out to him. "Something about it doesn't make sense though. There are too many numbers here. The first number is supposed to represent a paragraph on the page, the second the line and the third the word, but there are four numbers."

"Could it be the page? Didn't you ever have to worry about the page number?" Cindy asked.

"It never actually came up, but I guess it could." George looked from the desk to the newspaper clippings. The code paper had only four different first numbers, it was possible that he'd noticed the answer before the riddle. "You might be on to something."

George took one of the papers from the desk and a pen and started to translate the message. Cindy left him to the translation and went back upstairs to tell the others what they found. She returned a few minutes later with a bottle of water.

"Hey, drink this, they found an unopened pack of water in one of the lockers." Cindy said and held the bottle out to him.

"Thanks, I'm glad they did because Alyssa could really use some fluids." George said.

"I think we all can. How's it coming?" Cindy asked.

"So far so good. It looks like a recipe or rather a set of instructions for making something. I haven't gotten to the 'what' yet, only half-way through the 'how.'"

"Jim was hoping you might have a code for the elevator." Cindy prompted.

"I forgot about that. We need authorization, correct? Peter was Vice President of Research here, look for his badge, or one of those RF-ID password things." George pointed absent-mindedly at Peter's body while he continued to stare at the clippings.

Cindy walked over to the body and felt through Peter's pocket until she found a small fob that displayed random numbers when she pressed a button. She held it up to George. "Is this it?"

"Probably, give that to Jim and see if it works." George turned back to the clippings and finished up another line of the code. The list had items he'd only seen in a fairy tale.

_Blood of the Beast_

_Venom from the Hive_

_Base from the Frog_

It took him another five minutes to get the rest of the code.

_Mix all three together to get the cure. Rescue at dawn._

George stood up straight reflexively. Cure? Could Peter have found a cure? Was this what George had come for? Something only he could understand. _Damn it Peter, could you have made it any more cryptic?_ Why did he even need to hide it in the first place?

Cindy came back down the stairs looking pleased. "It worked! We can get into the elevator now." She stopped when she saw him looking at the paper. "Did you translate it? What does it say?"

George rubbed his chin thoughtfully and gave the paper to Cindy. She read the lines and looked up at him.

"Is this for real?" Cindy asked.

"I'm not sure, but I trust Peter. I'm willing to go after these ingredients once we figure out what they are, and wait for whatever rescue he had planned." George paused and looked back at his friend. "But, I don't want to give them any false hope."

"What other kind of hope have we had all night? We've been blindly wandering around for the most part, just going from place to place. Now we actually have a goal and it's something we can work toward with a reward at the end. No matter how tentative that reward might be, isn't that worth working for?" Cindy asked.

"Having hope when it's hopeless is all well and good if everything works out, but if this falls through, what are we going to do then?"

"Keep going, it's what we do. We have to make that leap of faith at some point, why not make it now."

George shrugged. "I can't argue with that. We'll have to do it sometime, might as well do it now I suppose."

"Whatever you say Double-O." Cindy laughed. "We had better get back and tell them the news. They'll be sending a search party after us."


	50. Chapter 50

"Where have you two been?" Kevin asked.

George ignored the question and threw Peter's badge on the desk in front of Jim. "Try the code on the back for the elevator."

Jim typed the code into the computer. The elevator made a soft _ding_ and the doors rolled open. "Yes!" Jim cried out and clapped his hands.

George held up a hand and forestalled the questions Kevin was about to ask. "I don't want to get anyone's hopes up, but we may have found a way out of the city. Nothing is certain, but my friend seems to have had some sort of rescue prepared."

"When is it coming?" Mark asked.

"Those of us who are infected can't leave though." Yoko noted.

"Mark, it's coming at dawn, and Yoko, I think Peter found a solution to that too. He left a list of ingredients for a purported cure." George said.

"So, you found your friend, where is he?" Alyssa asked.

"He's…he didn't make it." George explained.

"I'm sorry." Alyssa said.

George shrugged. "There's too many things worth getting depressed over tonight, but too many reasons not to be distracted as well. I'll mourn him plenty when it's all over. For now, however, we need to get on that elevator and upstairs. Peter's badge says he had an office on the third floor, we should check it out before trying to gather the ingredients for the cure. He might have left some more detailed instructions."

As they went to the third floor, George answered any extra questions they had about the escape and the cure. Many he couldn't answer and a few Cindy helped explain. When they got to the third floor the first thing they noticed, by way of David almost breaking his neck, was a large gaping hole in the floor. George looked down and could just barely make out the shapes of brooms and trashcans.

He ignored the hole and made his way to the door labeled with the same number as Peter's I.D. tag. The door lead to a narrow work space with two desks, each desk held an old IBM computer and a microscope. The drawers on the desks hung open and papers were strewn about as if someone had come through frantically looking for something. Next to the desk closest to them was another door.

There was a magnetic lock on the door which opened when George slid Peter's I.D. through the card reader. Inside was a much larger laboratory with more current equipment. There were three new PCs along the desk to their left each flanked by some sort of machine. One had an electron microscope, another a spectrometer, and the last had a small centrifuge. On the far wall from where they stood was a row of monitors that showed screens of different rooms in the university. Next to the row of monitors was a much larger machine that looked similar to the centrifuge, but had slight modifications so that whatever liquids were spinning in the machine could mix together to form another solution.

"George, do you think would could use this to mix the ingredients from the list?" Cindy asked.

"I think we probably could. At least we know there's a way to mix the mystery ingredients that we don't have." George said not a little frustrated.

"We'll find them; we just need something to begin with." Cindy rubbed his arm.

"Hey! I might have something here!" Jim called. He was staring at one of the monitors.

On the screen, a man paced back and forth in front of a large floor-to-ceiling incubation tube, the inside of the tube was obscured with a thick layer of condensation. There were two brightly lit panels with multi-colored buttons on either side of the tube. He was saying something to himself. After a few times back and forth in front of the tube, he stopped and placed his hand on it. Caressing the tube, the man wiped a little of the condensation off.

George squinted and could just barely see what looked like a part of a man's arm. The man in the monitor looked behind him and spun suddenly to stare at the monitor. He flapped his lab coat once and turned to look at something off screen. He walked away and came back with what looked like an intercom microphone. He raised his free arm up and spoke into the microphone.

"Ah, finally, welcome friends!" His voice played out over speakers in the room. "I was waiting for you to join me; it's terribly lonely talking to Thanatos. He's very sparse with his words, not much of a conversationalist I think." The man shrugged and looked at the tube. He placed his free hand on the tube. "I suppose I didn't create him for conversation though. My perfect creation cannot be marred by simple conversation. Talking, what has talking ever accomplished?

His hand curled into a fist and he slammed it against the tube. "Talking is for the bureaucrats! And what do bureaucrats care about? Money! Profits! Growth!."

He started to push some of the buttons on the panel next to the tube and then turned back to the monitor. "Too much growth weakens an organization, what should be important becomes corrupted by greed. Mass production? Ridiculous! One masterpiece is enough."

After a slight pause, he pushed one last button. Fog began to roll out of the tube. "I've been saving Thanatos for a special occasion. What could be grander than the end of the world? I want you to play with him and keep him occupied for now. Well, for however long you can really. I want to get some good data out of this, so don't stop prematurely. It's a pity really, he shouldn't be cooped up like this, but I couldn't let him out until now."

The tube slid down and a greenish liquid poured out. The fog grew thicker and for a moment, the man was lost in it. Another figure emerged though. A taller, larger, and more menacing figure than anything George had seen before.

The man in the tube was anything but a man. It was a monstrosity that only resembled something human in the vaguest of terms. Its arms and legs were twice as long as any man's, a heart the size of a large horse's beat outside of its massive chest, and two large hands completed its arms with enormous claws attached to each of its ten fingers. The whole beast was bald from head to toe and colored an earthly brown. The only thing preventing it from complete nakedness was what looked like a latex wrapping where genitalia might have been on a human man.

The man turned to the monster and dropped the microphone. "My perfect creation! Go out and satiate your destiny!"

Thanatos looked at him and picked him up. It looked at his face, cocked its head to the side, and stared at him for a while.

"Yes, it's your father, look at my face, you know me!" The man was barely audible over the speaker.

Whether or not Thanatos understood, it put him down and turned away from him. Thanatos left the room by a door next to the tube.

The man picked the microphone back up and turned to the monitor. "Prepare yourselves."

"What the hell was that?" David asked. "Does he expect us to _fight_ that thing? Look at it!"

"I don't know about this, maybe we need to high tail it out of here." Mark suggested.

"And go where?" Kevin asked. "We can't exactly drive out of here."

"There were cars in the parking lot." Yoko reminded them.

"Where do we _go_ though?" Kevin asked. "We have a plan right now, and we've faced worse than this guy."

"Shit, I hate to say it, because it sounds crazy, but I'm with Kevin on this." Jim said. "We're not safe anywhere, but if George's friend had a way out of this city, I think we need to take it."

George phased the conversation out; he was staring at the monitors. Each one had a different room or area of the university. It was almost the entire building. There were scenes of an outside location with a truck parked in the middle of two buildings, a short railway in an underground location, and what looked like sewers of some sort. It was the sewers that caught George's eye. In one of the rooms there looked to be a pile of…eggs. _Base from the Frog._

"Hey, Jim, where is that screen?" George pointed at the monitor with the pile of eggs.

"Uh, what?" Jim looked to where George was pointing and sat down in the chair in front of the monitors. "This system is a little different than the one downstairs, so give me a few minutes on this."

Jim started typing on the system and after a few introductory minutes, he had an answer. "It's saying it's part of the third floor basement."

"Then that's where we start!" George pounded the desk excitedly. "We have a starting point!"

"What'd you mean?" David asked. George was already heading toward the door so David called again. "George! What do you mean?"

"Base from the frog! Frogs lay eggs, there's eggs in that picture. I'm assuming here, but I think where we find eggs we'll find frogs." George explained.

"Those are _eggs_?" Alyssa asked. "Look at the size of those. Those can't be frog's eggs."

"Since when has anything been the right size tonight?" George said. He walked back to the group. "Who's coming with me on this?"

"I almost wish I could to see what you're going up against, but I don't think I could move all that well to run from them." Alyssa said.

"I'm not leaving Alyssa." Kevin added.

"I didn't expect you to, and Alyssa, no offense, but as your doctor I was going to restrict you from coming anyway."

"I'll go." Cindy said and walked next to him.

"It's better than nothing I guess." David said with a shrug.

"If it's snakes, I'm getting the hell out of there." Mark said.

"I'll come." Jim said.

"Not that you can't handle yourself Jim, but you're the only one that can work this thing." David said and pointed to the monitor. "Maybe you should hang back and give us some direction?"

"Aw, man, the only time I actually _want_ to go and I'm better off away from the danger. Just my luck, right?"

"Sorry about that." David said.

"Yoko, what about you?" George asked.

"There's not much I can do here." Yoko said with a shrug.

"That settles it then. Jim, we'll be on channel 5." George said and held the two-way radio up and shook it. "Keep an eye on us and tell us if anything is coming our way."

"What if something's coming _our_ way?" Alyssa asked.

"Then tell us that and we'll come back as fast as possible." David explained.

They left with a wave and a promise to return. When the door was shut, the radio went off.

"Testing. Testing." Jim said.

"I hear you Jim." George responded.

"I just wanted to check." Jim said.

"He's a little paranoid." Mark noted.

"Aren't you?" Yoko asked.

Mark grumbled.

Passing through the outer room and into the hallway, George made sure he avoided the large hole in the floor as he moved over to the elevator. Once inside the elevator Jim contacted them again.

"I'm looking at the floor plans now and it seems like there is no direct way to get to the third floor basement. You need to go down a maintenance access ladder on the first floor basement."

"Thanks Jim." George said and pushed the button.

The elevator _dinged_ and the doors rolled open. Just outside were two zombies that spilled into the elevator and fell onto David and Mark.

"Shit!" David cursed as he struggled to keep the zombie's teeth from his throat. He pushed against the zombie, but it clung to him.

Mark had better luck. He positioned his elbow under the zombie's chin and pushed the head away. It gave Yoko enough space to squeeze off a round.

The shot rang out in the elevator and was amplified in the small space. George's ears rang and he had trouble focusing for a few seconds. David cried out and fell down with the zombie on top of him.

"G… i…. off m…" David said, but George couldn't hear him.

George grabbed the zombie by the collar and pulled it away from David. Cindy slid a knife into the zombie's temple and twisted the blade. The zombie went limp in George's grip. David rolled out from underneath it and stood up.

"Shit that was close." David said as the ringing in George's ears subsided enough to understand him.

"What's going on? Are you guys okay?" Jim asked over the radio.

David grabbed the radio from George's hand. "Yeah, thanks for the warning!"

"Man I'm sorry, they were in a blind spot. I can't move these cameras you know!" Jim said.

David sighed. "Yeah, all right, just keep an eye out next time." David gave the radio back to George. "You okay Mark?"

"Yeah I'm fine. My head's still ringing a bit though." Mark said with a look to Yoko.

"Sorry, I just reacted." Yoko shrugged.

"Do you have a knife?" Cindy asked.

"Yes." Yoko reached into her backpack and brought it out.

"Try that in close quarters next time." Cindy recommended.

"Hey guys, the ladder should be just around that fenced off area in front of you." Jim said.

George looked around the room. There was a large fence right in front of them, blocking off rowboats and other boating equipment. Along the wall opposite the gates to the fenced off area was a row of shelves with various chemicals and cleaning supplies. The two formed a make-shift corridor within the room. At the end of that corridor was a man-hole which was thankfully already opened.

George stopped as he approached the man-hole. He looked to the spot next to it and shivered.

"What's the matter?" Cindy asked.

"It's nothing I guess, someone must have walked over my grave." George said with a laugh.

"Don't say that." Cindy said.

"It's just a saying, that's all." George smiled and looked down the opening.

The space below was mostly bathed in darkness except for a few flickering emergency lights that just barely lit the sewer access below. When George was satisfied that the way down was clear of any monsters, he started down the ladder.

He dropped off into knee-high water that smelled of chemicals and mildew. George was uneasy about wading through the water. The room was dimly lit and the water was murky enough to obscure the bottom. A zombie could easily hide below the surface, and George was unsure whether they needed to breathe or not.

"Ugh…I feel like I'll never get dry tonight. If it's not sewers it's water reservoirs." Cindy complained. "I think I'll need a long hot bath after we get out of here."

"If we get out of here." David corrected.

Cindy shot him a silent glare.

"I didn't take you for the pessimist David." Mark said. "We've made it through this so far."

"I'm just not going to jinx it, you know?" David asked.

Mark shrugged. "Where are we going George?"

George picked up his radio. "Jim, we're in the sewers, where to now?"

"I can't see shit down there man, but if I'm reading these plans right there should be another room just ahead of you. Take the right at the fork and go into the next are. Just, I don't know watch your backs or something, these cameras are shit in low light."

"Thanks Jim, we'll do that." George said and replaced the radio at his side. He looked in front of him and could make out that the tunnel bore to the left right where a floor-to-ceiling grate blocked off another tunnel. "Watch out for anything under the water."

"Do you think those things could survive under the water for this long?" Mark asked.

"It may not just be the human-like ones; we've seen a lot of things that live in the water." Yoko reminded him. "Like that alligator at the zoo."

"Yeah, great, now I'm thinking about that old urban legend of the alligator in the sewers, thanks." David said.

They made their way through to the fork and took the right without any incident. The path led them to a large grate with a smaller door that led them into the next area. George could see a lone zombie swaying in the middle of the area.

"Okay, I'll distract him and someone get him with a knife." George said.

"I'll do it." David volunteered.

George went through the doorway and walked past the zombie out of its reach. The zombie turned and lunged, but was too far away to grab George. He led it farther into the tunnel, standing just out of its reach while David snuck up behind it. David jammed his knife into the zombie's head and let it fall down limp.

Inside the room there was only a large grate that blocked their path forward and a ladder to their left.

"I'll go up first." David said as he started to climb the ladder. He stopped at the top and called down. "Back up, there's one at the top here, I'm going to pull him down, can you guys get him?"

"Yeah, we'll get him." Mark said.

David stood high enough on the ladder for the zombie to see him. He waited for it to approach and pulled on its belt when it was close enough to fall over. The zombie fell into the water below where George and the others fell upon it. With a few quick stabs, the zombie was floating in the shallow water.

"We look good now." David called down.

There was a short hallway at the top of the ladder adorned with cautionary warnings about electrical currents and water. At the end of the hallway was a door. The next room had a T-Junction with doorways on either the left or the right.

"Jim, we're at a crossroads, should we go left or right?" George asked into the radio.

"A crossroads? Aw shit, where are you?" Jim asked.

"The hell if we know." David said.

"Okay, okay, did you guys climb a ladder or something?" Jim asked.

"Yes, and then went through another door." George explained.

"Great, take the right and keep going through it's a straight shot to the egg room after that." Jim said.

"I don't know if that's a relief or some pretty bad news." Mark said.

"It can't be _that_ bad Mark, we've seen some pretty nasty creatures, I'm sure we can handle whatever it is." Cindy said.

"We have to do it anyway, let's just see what we're up against before we psyche ourselves out." George reminded them. He led them through the next door and down a hallway cluttered with maintenance supplies. The room beyond opened up back into the sewers except that they were now standing on a metal platform above the water.

The shaky gated platform ended at another doorway, but looked out onto a gated platform a few yards away. It seemed as though the two platforms were connected through the room beyond the doorway.

George opened the door and walked into the room he had seen on the monitor. It was cavernous. The room was laid out as a square with two walkways connected by a small metal bridge forming a perimeter around a large pool of water. Inside the pool was another concrete platform that had metal attachments for bridges to connect to either walkway. The bridges, however, were in pieces that were poking out of the surface of the water.

"What's that?" David asked, pointing to the other platform.

George looked at where he was pointing and saw what looked like a large metal pod. It had a glass window, but from that distance, George couldn't see what was inside.

"We should take a look." Yoko suggested.

"After you then." Mark said and motioned for her to lead.

Yoko hesitated, but started over the little metal bridge. George followed after her closely. When they approached the pod, he leaned over her shoulder and looked in. Inside the greenish liquid was a gigantic frog-like beast. Its skin was a deep blue like a poison dart frog. However, its stomach was bulbous and completely clear showing the maze-like intestines. George backed away and nearly slipped on a key.

He bent down and picked it up. It had a red tag that said **TANK ROOM**. He placed the key in his pocket and zippered it closed.

"George, we need to go!" Cindy called over. "Right now!"

George turned to look at her and Yoko screamed. The pod exploded out and pushed George over the platform. He had no idea what was happening, but he grabbed for the side and missed. The only thing he heard before he hit the water was Cindy screaming something unintelligible.

The water filled his nose and mouth when he hit. Blackness surrounded him and disoriented him. He started to swim upwards, but the surface wasn't there. His heart beat faster as he tried to suppress the panic he was feeling. He must have gotten turned around somehow and swam down instead of up. Everywhere was darkness, which way was up? His lungs began to burn painfully.

Something splashed next to him and rushed quickly past him. Bubbles prickled his face as the creature zoomed by. _Bubbles_. George cupped his hand between his nose and his mouth and blew a small bubble. He didn't feel it go by. He turned over and tried again. The bubble rolled off his hand and floated toward the surface.

George kicked up and pulled with all of his might. In two strokes, his head broke the surface and he pulled in a deep breath. Before he could finish taking a breath, something grabbed his leg and pulled him back under the water.

The hand ripped him down into the blackness again, and despite struggling, it was pulling him farther down. George reached down and grabbed the hand. He felt along the bumps and webbing until he found individual fingers. With his other hand, he took his knife out of its sheath. Before he could slash at the hand, another hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him close to the frog. Its mouth was open wide. George put his hands up defensively, but the frog swallowed him whole.

He was too big for the frog to swallow in one gulp, so it turned him round and round as it tried to break him. George felt his back twist and turn painfully. He wouldn't last much longer. George couldn't move very far, but he used what leverage he could get and slashed out with the knife, cutting and stabbing every direction. Within a few stabs, the frog cried out and spit him back up.

George wasted no time. He cupped his hand between his mouth and nose again and found which direction was up. He broke the surface again and started to swim.

"Other way!" David screamed. "George, over here!"

George turned to the sound and saw David standing on a ramp that led into the water. He had his hand out and beckoned for George.

"Swim! Swim!" Cindy cried.

The frog broke jumped out of the water behind him and splashed back down a few yards to his right. George kicked and pulled as hard as he could toward David.

"Shit, he's not going to make it." David said and started running into the water.

The frog sped through the water toward George at an alarming pace. It would catch him well before George could reach the ramp. David was still only wading into the water.

_Stroke_.

Closer.

_Stroke._

Closer.

_Stroke._

George was reaching for David's outstretched hand when he felt the frog grab his leg and pull him back into the water. He barely got a breath before the water enveloped his head. He slashed dawn with the knife, but only hit water.

His jacket tightened around his neck and he stopped descending. George pulled his legs up and stabbed at the hand until it let go. Another arm wrapped around his chest and pulled him all the way up the ramp.

David let George go and Cindy grabbed him into a hug.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yes, but we'd better get out of here." George managed through a coughing fit. The frog was crawling up the ramp slowly, creating a trail of gooey blood behind it.

They left quickly the way they had come only to find another one of those frogs on the shaky gated platform. Mark growled and ran at the beast, ramming it with his shoulder and pushing it over the railing before it could do anything. The splash was satisfying.

"Let's go!" He called out as he ran for the other door. The platform shook dangerously, but held as they made their way into the cluttered hallway again.

"Wait." George said and had to lean against the wall to catch his breath. "I just need a moment."

His heart pounded in his chest and he could _feel_ the virus slithering in his veins. He knew it was his mind playing tricks, but it felt so real.

He took the key from his pocket and gave it to Cindy. "Ask Jim where this is."

Cindy looked at the tag and called to Jim on the radio. "Jim? Can you tell me where we can find, the 'Tank Room'?"

"Is he okay?" Jim asked. "I saw you guys cross the bridge, but I didn't see you come back."

"We're okay now Jim." Cindy reassured him.

"Aw shit, no you guys aren't. There are frog things all over the place. Whatever you did really pissed these things off." Jim said.

"We know." Cindy replied. "We can't worry about it now."

"Yeah, I hear you. Listen, to get to the Tank Room, you have to go back the way you came to that T-Hallway and go through the _left_ door instead of the right where you went." Jim paused. "Then there should be a little hallway and a room at the end. Inside that room is the door to the Tank Room."

"Is there anything in our way?" Cindy asked.

"As far as I can tell, just a few zombies and they're spread out pretty well, so it shouldn't be a problem."

"Thanks Jim."

"Stay safe, I'll keep an eye out."

George was beginning to feel like himself again when Cindy replaced the radio at her side. His back hurt, but he could still move well enough. He pushed off the wall and nodded to Cindy when she looked at him.

"No offense George, but I think I'll take distraction duty for these zombies." David volunteered.

"None taken, by all means they're yours." George said with a smile.

They passed back through the door into the T-Hallway where they continued straight through the only door they had not gone through. Inside the doorway, a zombie spotted them and moaned a few yards down the corridor. The monster, still wearing his tattered lab coat, reached out with the only arm he had left and shambled toward them. David walked up to him and took hold of both the arm and neck of the zombie while Mark stabbed it in the head.

"Ugh, what the hell? That one smelled like piss." David said. He coughed and backed away from the zombie as it dropped.

"Ammonia." George said. "The kidneys have stopped working by now and the ammonia is building up in their bodies. It's been a few hours since this started, so I would imagine the smell will be getting worse in the next couple of hours. Although, he probably did pee himself when he died. So there's that too."

"It's natural for the bowels to evacuate after death. It was raining pretty heavily all night so that probably washed the smell off." Cindy suggested.

"We've been inside before and I didn't smell them then, so why now?" Mark asked.

"We're pretty far underground and there doesn't seem to be any ventilation." Yoko said. "I go here—went here—and I never knew this place existed. It's pretty amazing."

"I agree, it's incredible really, and I mean that in the secondary definition. How exactly did the University fund this? This technology is unbelievable." George pondered.

"No time to wonder it now, right Doc?" David said and nodded toward the end of the hall. "We have a cure to make right?"

"True, I'm sorry, my mind wanders sometimes." George apologized and motioned for David to lead on.

There were two more zombies waiting for them around the corner. David and Mark subdued each one while the ladies dispatched them with two quick stabs. Near the end of this section of the hallway was a single metal door. Inside was a medium sized conference room cluttered with so many stacks of papers and boxes that George had a hard time maneuvering around without hitting either one or the other. In the center was a large square table that continued the decorum of the rest of the room, however, there was a blue plant that George picked up and gave to Cindy.

"Haven't seen many of these since we left the city proper." Cindy said as she placed it inside her herb case. "We were running low on the blues too."

Before George could reply David called him over to the far side of the room where he stood in front of a metal door. "I think this is the room Jim was talking about, can I have that key?"

George took the key out of his pocket and tossed it over to David. David caught it and unlocked the door.

"Let's see what's behind _this_ locked door." David said and pushed the door open to a loud series of creaks and screeches. The room beyond was straight out of a Michael Crichton novel. Two large pools of water churned from the fans of large industrial motors. A frothy mixture rose to the surface and gave the pools a swamp-like atmosphere. A narrow walkway between the two pools led to a computer console with more monitors than people in the room. "Not the worst thing I've opened a locked door to tonight."

"Anyone know how to use that thing?" Mark asked and pointed to the computer console.

"We won't know until we get over there." David said and clapped Mark on the back. "Maybe we can call Jim and describe it to him."

Mark shrugged and started down the walkway. George followed and the others followed him. The walkway was wide enough to move comfortably, but a step in either direction would have caused George to fall in the water.

The console was on a raised platform that was tall enough to force George to have to climb up on to it. He turned and offered Cindy a hand up before moving over to the console. A trail of blood led from the edge of the left pool to the console. George eyed the pool cautiously.

"Someone keep an eye on those pools while I look at this computer." He ordered.

David looked at him questioningly, but pulled out his handgun and turned toward the pools.

Some of the buttons glowed orange as if someone had started to use the computer and then stopped before they were finished. The main monitor showed a door and had some writing overlaid on the image.

**UNLOCK P-BASE LABS? YES [NO]**

George looked around at the other monitors and saw images of the room he had found the key. The eggs in the corner of the room were no longer solid. Instead, only shells remained. He groaned and looked at the other monitors to see if he could find any signs of life, but he saw none. George had hoped he wouldn't have to go back to that room, but it looked like the only way forward was through the locked door in that room.

Using the arrow keys, he moved the cursor to "YES" and hit enter. The computer beeped and a light next to the door switched from red to green. George sighed and turned back to the others.

"I've got some bad news, we have to go _back_ to the room we found the key in." George said to a chorus of groans.

"What do you mean?" Mark asked.

"I unlocked a door in there that we have to go through to get to the labs."

"This round-about shit is getting old really quickly." David complained.

"It's only a little bit farther." Cindy said.

"After you." Mark said to David and clapped him on the back.

David laughed and showed him his middle finger. Mark returned the laugh and the finger in kind. He started down the walkway and turned his head to talk behind him.

"I swear, if I ever find the person that planned this—"

David stopped as the water to his left splashed upwards like a geyser. One of the frogs landed in front of him and clicked its tongue. Another geyser of water exploded and one more frog jumped up onto the walkway behind them.


	51. Chapter 51

A/N: Hello everyone, I wanted to apologize for the lack of updates on this recently. I have not stopped writing this story, I intend to finish it, so don't worry about that. Just for future reference, there are approximately five or six chapters left and then the story will come to a close, so expect me to be around for at least that much, if not a chapter or so more.

The frog swiped David into the churning pool of water with a single easy blow. He fell with a cry and a splash.

"David!" George screamed, but he couldn't do anymore for his friend. The frog moved forward and raised its hand to slap at George. Before it could attack, Cindy reached around George and squeezed off three rounds into its exposed stomach in quick succession. It reeled back and grabbed at its stomach as if it could hold the blood inside. Blood dripped out like water through a sieve.

"George, focus on the monster first!" Cindy said and emptied the rest of the clip into the monster.

He took a quick look at David, who was doing his best to keep his head above the water, and readied his own pistol. The frog was only a few steps in front of him, so George had no trouble putting a bullet into the frog's eye. It screamed and moved its hand from its stomach to its face. George took the opportunity and kicked it into the pool opposite David.

Cindy turned around and helped Yoko and Mark fight off the frog behind them while George knelt down and reached for David.

"Get over here damnit!" George screamed.

David tried to say something, but instead took in a mouth full of water. He struggled as best he could to the walkway and took hold of George's hand when he got close enough. George leaned back and pulled David back onto the walkway.

"George, you need to move now, this thing isn't stopping!" Mark cried.

They were inching back from the frog as it continued toward them. George got David onto his feet and pushed him most of the way to the door they had come through. By the time they left the walkway, the first frog was climbing up on to the platform just ahead of them on their left. David ran forward as fast as he could and shoved it back into the water. George ran up after him and opened the door for the others.

They filed into the cluttered office and slammed the door shut just as the second frog made it off of the walkway. George backed away from the door a step and leaned on one of the filing cabinets while he caught his breath.

"God damn things can be anywhere!" David screamed and kicked the door. "We really need to get that chemical and get out of here already."

"We still need two more ingredients after this one right?" Yoko asked, looking to George for the answer.

"Yes, some 'Blood of the Beast,' and 'Venom from the Hive,' whatever those are. We can cross those bridges when we get to them though, for now we at least know where one of the ingredients is."

They made their way back through the hallways to the door where they had found the key.

"Wait, before we go in I want to ask you something." Cindy said to George. "Do you remember when I shot the frog back in the control room?"

"I, yes, I remember that, I was just about to shoot it myself actually." George explained.

"I'm not bragging, I shot it in the stomach and it freaked out. Did you see that?"

He thought back and nodded, it _had_ reacted oddly when she shot the frog in the stomach. "It immediately stopped and tried to hold the wound."

"Maybe it's a sensitive spot for them." Yoko suggested.

"Perhaps," Cindy said and rubbed her chin while she thought. "Shooting them anywhere else is pointless, they have really thick skin, so I think we need to concentrate our fire on their stomachs."

"Better to go with what we know instead of experimenting." Mark said.

After a quick check of their weapons and nerves, Mark opened the door and stepped in. One of the frogs was only a few yards away, but Mark had surprised it and took advantage of that. He unloaded half of a clip into its stomach. It reeled back and nearly lost its balance as it cradled the clear ball that was its stomach. David ran forward with a knife in hand and tackled it to the ground. He ripped and tore at the stomach while the frog cried in its death throes. It took less than a minute, but the frog finally let out a garbled cry and stopped struggling. David gave it one last stab before climbing off the frog.

"I guess it works." David said and wiped some gore off his shirt. He turned to his right and pointed. "Look out, there's another one."

George looked to where David had pointed and saw that another frog had just jumped up onto the platform to their left. Mark turned to shoot it, but the frog back handed him and sent him sprawling to the floor.

With Mark out of the way, the frog turned to George and raised its hand to strike. Yoko was faster. She squeezed off a round into its stomach.

"Thanks." George breathed as the frog reached down to protect its stomach.

It used both of its hands to envelope its stomach in a protective bubble of flesh. Yoko took another shot, but the frog didn't seem to notice.

"Shit, it's learning!" Mark said as he got to his feet.

"Doesn't matter! Just hit it in the eyes." David said. He was next to George now, and George noticed that he had taken out his pistol. David took a step toward the frog, extended the arm with the pistol, and shot it point blank in its left eye. The frog instinctually reached up and covered its eye with both hands.

"Grab it now!" David screamed and pulled on one of the frog's arms away from its face. It took two people to hold each arm, David and George on one, and Mark and Cindy on the other. Yoko took aim and shot the rest of her clip into its stomach. It had probably died before she was finished, but she just kept firing until it stopped moving.

They let the frog drop down to the floor and looked at their work. Two dead frogs and it seemed like the room was clear. George took a look around to try and find out how they could get across the room to the gated off area. The bridges that were supposed to connect the pathway they were on to the island in the middle of the pool, and then to the pathway on the other side of the room were missing. He looked around and at first considered swimming and climbing the wall on the other side, but the wall was too high. It was Yoko who noticed the pipes.

"Do you think we can get across on those?" She asked and pointed above them. There were two sets of pipes following the area where the bridges would have been. They crossed just above the island platform.

"Unless anyone has any objections that might be the best option." George concluded.

No one did, and so at her insistence, Yoko decided to go first to see if the pipes would even hold any weight. When she had made it across safely, they each went over one-by-one until everyone stood on the other side of the room.

George led them around the gate and into the next room. Inside was another control panel, but all of the lights to this one were off, and so he ignored it. Instead, he passed through the room, quickly looking at all of the machinery, but nothing seemed important. The door to the next area slid up and revealed another part of the sewer and another door across a gated walkway.

Inside that room, they found themselves on the upper level of the room with the two churning pools. The two frogs they had trapped in the room croaked loudly at them from below. At first, the frogs tried to jump up onto the platform, but thankfully, it was well out of their reach. However, the platform was narrow so they had to be careful as they followed it around and into a small room.

In the small room—which if George hadn't seen the incubator he would have thought was a guard shack—there were multiple monitors each showing the same message:

**P-BASE COMPLETE**

**EXTRACT SAMPLE?**

**YES / [NO]**

George moved the cursor over and hit enter. The incubator whirled and a vial of purple liquid rose out. Yoko picked it up and put it in her back pack.

"I'll hold it." She stated and shrugged her pack back on. "This way we can split up the ingredients, so if we get separated we won't lose everything."

While George agreed with her logic, the matter-of-fact way she spoke was unnerving. He just nodded and turned to leave. As he started to go, the radio at his hip crackled.

"Hey, George?" Jim asked.

"Yes Jim, what's wrong?"

"A message just popped up on the screen saying that one of the ventilation shafts in the fourth floor basement is blocked."

George cocked his head at the radio. "Why does that concern us?"

"Well, that thing your friend wrote had something about a hive one it right?"

"It did…"

"When I got the message I looked through some of the cameras to try and find the blockage and I saw what I hope was the only big-ass wasp in this building."

"And wasp equal hive right?" George sighed.

"That's what I thought."

"I wish I didn't, but I agree with you. However, one wasp can't build a hive."

"Yeah, but shit man, that thing was _huge_."

"I don't really need to hear that right now Jim, just tell me how to get to the fourth floor basement."

"Right, you can get there through the elevator that you took before you climbed down that ladder."

"That's pretty far back Jim, any other ways?"

"No, but there's another ladder that you guys passed going to the room you're in now. After you climbed over the pipes—you guys are crazy for doing that by the way—there's a couple of boxes that must have blocked your view of it. That leads to a kind of parking lot between the two main buildings. I'll give you more instructions when you get there."

"Fair enough, we'll talk to you again when we arrive."

They made their way quickly back through to the large chamber Jim had indicated. Just as Jim had said, there was a ladder behind two stacks of crates if Jim hadn't told them it was there, they would never had found it.

George never would have thought he would be glad to be back outside, but seeing the smoky night sky as he climbed through the manhole brought him an odd sense of calm. Perhaps he just didn't like being in enclosed spaces with those monsters, and even the smell of death and fire was preferable to claustrophobic confines.

The radio crackled as soon as he took a few steps away from the manhole. "George? Can you hear me?"

"Yeah Jim, I hear you, where to now?" George looked around the parking lot and saw three doors they could enter. Two opposite each other on either side of him and one directly behind him. Though, the one behind him looked to be chained closed.

"You're not going to like it, but I tried to get the door to your left unlocked, however, I don't have access. That's the way I had planned for you to go. Don't worry though, I have another way."

"So far I'm not seeing any red flags, what's the part I'm not going to like?"

"Down the stairs in front of you is a body of water, I can't tell how big it is from the angle I can see, but you have to go across it on some sort of bridge. The bad news is, I can't tell exactly what it is, but something is in the water."

George sighed; of course something was in the water. "Can you take a guess as to what it is?"

"I think it might be a shark."

"A shark!?" David exclaimed. "We have to dodge sharks now?"

"There's got to be another way around." Cindy suggested.

George turned back to the radio. "Jim is there another way around?"

"Other than going back the way you came? No. Sorry guys, but those are your options." For what it was worth, Jim really did sound sorry.

George looked back at the manhole and then over to the stairs. He really didn't want to go back through the sewers and when he looked at everyone else they seemed to share his sentiment.

"It could be worse." He said.

"Don't say that." Yoko warned him. "You're only asking for it to get worse."

George shrugged and started off toward the stairs. The bridge Jim had mentioned looked like some sort of weekend project the school put together. Admittedly, it looked sturdy enough, but when George took a tentative step onto the first section, it shifted slightly. Oddly enough the body of water Jim was talking about looked to be a reservoir for the water that flowed into the sewer below, but the dam that usually allowed the water to flow had been mostly stopped up, allowing the water to rise up to the bridge.

"I don't think we should all go across at the same time. David, you and I should go first to test the bridge out and the rest of you can follow after. Does that sound okay to everyone?" George asked.

"I don't like that idea, you have the radio, if anything happens to you we wouldn't be able to talk to Jim." Cindy said, almost pleadingly.

George smiled at her concern. "You're right, you should hold on to the radio for now." He took it off his hip and placed it in her hand. "That's why I need you, you see the things I can't."

"You know that's not what I meant." She frowned.

"Perhaps, but it was such a good point that it's what I took to heart." George chuckled. "Wait for us to make it across before you start over."

"Dumbass." Cindy muttered just loud enough for George to hear.

He smiled, but said nothing. As they started onto the bridge, David turned back around.

"If you see anything you better not keep it to yourself, scream your head off." He intoned with a wag of his finger.

"Good idea." George said to him and started again on the bridge. It was shaky, but not enough that George was worried about falling in. Had all five of them come across that might have been a concern, but with only David and him, the bridge was both wide enough and stable enough that they were able to move quickly.

When they were close to halfway across the bridge, David stopped and bent down. George took a few more steps before he realized David had stopped. David balanced on his haunches as he looked at something on the bridge.

"What did you find?" George asked.

"A security badge I think, it might come in handy." David said as he picked the badge up. He looked at the front of it. "It says it's…some guy whose name I'm not even going to try and pronounce, but he's a director of sciences."

David waved the badge back and forth before slipping it into his bag.

"Hey, turn around!" Mark screamed from the other side of the bridge. He was waving his arms, and next to him, Cindy and Yoko were pointing. George looked where they were pointing and saw the fin just before the shark crashed into the bridge. George fell backwards onto his buttocks with a painful smack. It was a second before he realized he heard a splash.

"David!?" He called out as he stood up. A few seconds later, David's head broke the surface.

"Where is it?" David breathed out. "Do you see it?"

"No, I don't know where it went." Even as he was saying it, George saw the fin rise out of the water. "Shit! David, swim, just swim to me now!"

David kicked as hard as he could, slapped the water with his hands, and pulled as fast as possible. George took his pistol out of his bag and shot at the shark. It was moving fast, so he missed most of the shots. He cursed and calmed himself down. Taking aim, George led the shark a bit and squeezed the trigger. He didn't see the shot hit, but he saw the fin shake and turn away.

Bending down, George gave David his free hand and hauled him up to the bridge. "Are you okay?"

"I think I pissed my pants, but other than that peachy, let's get the hell off this bridge." David growled.

They half ran/half walked the rest of the way to the other side of the bridge. The dark water splashed as the shark's tail broke the surface and crashed back down angrily. George looked back at the others and saw Cindy wave. He waved back and gave her a thumbs up.

"We're okay, but you need to be careful when crossing!" He screamed over to her. "We'll keep an eye out for you!"

"Be right over then!" She yelled back. Cindy turned and conferred with the other two for a few moments, probably strategizing the best way to cross, before setting off on the bridge in single file. They walked along at a quick pace, almost a trot, and even got slightly farther than where George and David made it before George spotted the shark's fin.

"Shark on your right, be c—" George started warn them, but David hit his chest and pointed. A second fin broke the surface to their left. "There's another one to your left watch out!"

Cindy turned to look at her right and then her left. The sharks were closing in on either side. How could they not have seen that there were two of them? Both sharks were swimming fast, before George could even take out his pistol the first one broke through the water and slammed up on the bridge in front of Cindy. She cried out and backed up a step. The shark wriggled around and snapped at the air where Cindy had been.

George sighed; it had missed. He took aim at the shark on the bridge, but before he could squeeze the trigger, the second shark burst from the water. It landed behind Mark and forced the three of them to group together between the two sharks. Just like the first one, the second shark snapped at the air, trying to get at Mark.

"Well that was lucky, they're easy pickings now." David said.

George opened his mouth to reply, but stopped when he saw the third fin. "Shit!"

David stopped gloating when he saw it too. "You've got to get out of there!" He roared as he walked toward the waterline. He took out his pistol as he walked and started firing at the water where the third shark was moving. George quickly followed his lead.

Mark said something to Cindy and pushed her out of the way as he shot his entire clip into the shark. When the clip ran out, he passed it back to her and she switched it out with a fresh one. While Mark shot Cindy reloaded. The shark bled as bits of its eyes fell onto the bridge in a macabre puddle of gore. By the third clip, it had ceased to move. Mark pushed the corpse back into the water and ushered the women in front of him. He didn't get a chance to dodge the shark.

It jumped up onto the bridge, hitting him square in the chest. Mark plunged into the water with a heavy splash. The shark followed him in, slipping into the water gracefully.

"Mark!" Yoko screamed and bent down to the edge of the bridge to look for him. Cindy cried out incoherently and took out her own pistol. She walked over to the second shark, which looked less threatening and more worried now that its prey had the upper hand. Cindy finished it off with only a single reload.

"The water's red. Cindy, the water's _red_!" Yoko's voice shook as she screamed. She reached in and cupped some of the water in her hands. A rose colored waterfall cascaded out between her fingers.

"No." Cindy said and bent down to look at the water. "No. No. No." She repeated. Cindy stared at the water silently and then sat back on her haunches. "No, Yoko, look it's not dark enough."

"What?" Yoko asked.

"It's not dark enough." Cindy explained as she took off her coat. "Come on, help me, we have to get him."

Yoko stood up and started taking off her own coat when something bobbed up to the surface a few feet away.

"Help me!" Mark pleaded as he clung to the side of the bridge. Cindy and Yoko were there in moments, pulling at his arms to get him up on the bridge. "The bastard bit me!"

"George!" Cindy called to him as she and Yoko helped Mark to his feet. One leg was bleeding badly and so they both took an arm and dragged him the rest of the way to the shore.

George met them at the edge of the water and helped carry him away from the waterline. He laid Mark down and went to work on the wound. The shark had taken a small chunk out of Mark's leg. Blood poured from the wound, but if George could just plug the hole and try to stop the bleeding, then Mark would be able to survive the injury.

He took all of the gauze out of his bag and started blocking up the hole. The white fabric instantly stained red, but George stuffed as much as he could into the wound before leaning on it to stop the bleeding.

"Cindy, I need you to wrap the leg, we can't do anything more for him here, we'll need to take him back to the security room." George explained. "David, you and Yoko need to make sure that elevator is on this floor and ready for us to carry him in. It's somewhere through that door, find it so one of you can direct us there."

Cindy began wrapping a bandage around Mark's leg as tightly as possible while George kept pressure on the leg. He heard the door clang shut, but didn't see David or Yoko leave. It was only a few moments before the door opened again.

"George, the elevator's right here and we have it ready for whenever you are done." Yoko said.

"Thanks." George replied and continued to focus on Mark's leg. Cindy was almost through with the wrapping when Yoko left again. "Just wrap it a few more times and let's get him out of here, I'm going to have to take it off again to get a better look in the security room anyway."

Cindy nodded and pinned the bandage closed. She stood under one of Mark's arms and with George's help brought Mark to his feet.

"Ah, god damnit that hurts!" Mark complained.

"I'm sure it does, but you'll be back to normal before you know it once we get out of here." George reassured the larger man. Yoko came back through the door just in time to hold it open for them and pointed them toward the elevator. They were in the room with the elevator they had come down from to go into the sewers. George and Cindy walked Mark passed the sewer entrance and around the gated off area with the boats onto the elevator that David held open.

George quickly pressed the button for the second floor. He looked back down at Mark's leg. Some blood was starting to leak through the bandage. It was going to be tough, but he hoped he could stop the bleeding.


	52. Chapter 52

"Ah, God, can you please be a little more gentle?" Mark begged.

"Trust me I'm trying, but this isn't as clean of a bite as it looks. These sharks have a crisscross bite pattern that is making this more difficult than it should be." George explained.

"Am I going to lose the leg?" Mark asked, he tried to sound confident, but his voice quivered.

"I'd say there's a ten percent chance of that, but I'm working on it, so don't think about that right now." George said and bent over Mark's leg to work.

"The bastard snuck right up on me." Mark recounted to the others. "They're more clever than I gave them credit for."

"Yeah, they tried to trap us in. I wonder if the sickness is the cause of that." Cindy thought aloud.

"Maybe it's just a pack hunting thing. I mean it's not like I'm an expert on sharks, but it's a possibility." Kevin suggested.

"You've seen Shark Week one too many times." Alyssa laughed out.

Kevin smiled and wrapped his arm around her.

"Hey, Jim, what about that blockage you were talking about?" Yoko asked.

Jim sat up and turned back to the monitors. "Yeah, right, I saw a warning on one of the screens about a vent that's blocked, or clogged, or something." He hit a few keys and the message popped up.

**WARNING BLOCKAGE IN EMISSIONS TOWER**

"When I tried to find a camera in the Emissions Tower, I just got this." Jim hit a button and the screen turned black. "The camera's not out because every so often you can just barely make out some movement, but that's about it."

He started typing again and the monitor flicked from black to showing a corridor. The camera panned around, showing some zombies lingering around a few of the doors in the corridor, and ended at a T-intersection.

"What are we looking at?" Cindy asked.

"Give it a second." Jim said and held up his index finger. Almost as soon as he finished a gigantic wasp flew across the screen.

"Shit!" David cursed. "How big is that thing?"

"That's what I'm saying, those things are _huge_." Jim explained.

"Those? There's more than one?" Yoko asked.

"I've seen two so far, but I can only guess that there's a hive somewhere. I've never only seen one or two wasps."

"Damnit, how are we supposed to fight those things?" David's frustration was evident.

"I might be able to help actually." Kevin said. He walked over to where Jim sat and opened one of the drawers on the table next to the monitors. Inside was a large can of pesticide.

"You've got to be kidding me." David laughed. "How is that going to do _anything_ to them?"

"Hey now, they're still just bugs, this thing kills bugs. You might want to give it a try before you knock it."

David looked at the can and smiled. "I have a better idea." He walked over and took the can from Kevin and walked over to the corner of the room.

"Okay, Mark, I think you should be fine, but you need to stay off that leg as long as possible." George said as he stood up. "That means you can't come with us."

"I figured as much, I was planning on sitting this one out." Mark said with a nod.

"That means you're down a person." Alyssa pointed out.

"I guess so, but we should be fine." George noted.

"Kevin, you should go with them." Alyssa suggested.

"I can't, I'm here for you." Kevin sounded confused.

"I'm here safe in this office, I've got Jim and Mark here with me, they need you." She pressed.

"But, what if…?" Kevin sounded like a cornered animal searching for a way out.

"Come here." Alyssa ordered.

Kevin walked over to her and sat down. Alyssa took his chin between her index finger and thumb.

"I'll be here worrying about _you_. You don't get to worry about me, is that understood?" She demanded.

"Yes." He almost sounded sullen.

Alyssa pulled his face close and kissed him long and hard. When she let him go, Kevin cleared his throat and stood up. "I'll be back."

"All right Schwarzenegger." Alyssa grinned.

David came back to the group. "_This_ is my answer to your shitty pesticide." He held out to them a homemade flamethrower. A lighter had been attached to the can with some duct tape and broken just enough that the flame was larger than it was supposed to be. He squeezed the knob twice in short bursts. A brilliant green flame shot out both times.

Kevin frowned in admiration. "I suppose that could work a little better, but I'll keep my shotgun just in case."

"Damn right it will. Those goddamn bugs will only know what hit them once they are already frying. We'll see if you get any use out of that shotgun." David bragged.

"Now that we have weapons and our group, Jim can you tell us what we're looking at?" George asked. "Do you have a map of the area?"

"All of these cameras are disjointed since some of them are blacked out, so I really can't tell you which room leads to which room. What I can tell you, though, is that right here," Jim pointed to one of the monitors. There was what looked to be a large piece of paper stuck to one of the walls of a hallway. It had a design that appeared to be a map. "This could be what you're looking for, and I think this might be the room where the elevator lets you out anyway."

"Great, that should make it less impossible." Kevin complained.

"It's just a few bugs, they can't be worse than the leeches." Cindy reminded them.

"Those leeches _were_ terrible." George recollected. "Let's not get over confident though. Come on."

"Oh, wait, before we go, we should leave this with you." Yoko added. She reached into her backpack and took the P-Base out. She left it on the table next to Jim.

"I'll make sure to take care of it." Jim said with a smile.

With the first ingredient secured, they started toward the next. David examined the flamethrower in his hand as they made their way to the elevator.

"That thing better not explode on us when we're using it." Kevin warned as he called the elevator. The bell _dinged_ and the doors slid open.

"I can't say that it won't, but it shouldn't." David explained as he walked into the elevator, still looking at the flamethrower.

"That's reassuring." Kevin mumbled.

George pressed the button for the fourth floor basement and leaned against the wall.

"What do you think are our odds of this vaccine working?" Cindy leaned close and whispered to him.

George set his jaw as he considered the question. Peter was a damn good doctor, and researcher, but unless he had been working on the actual disease, he didn't think it would work. Peter wouldn't have called George here unless it could work though, and that would mean…

"Peter's good at what he does, I can't ask you to trust him, but I do." George finally said.

"And I trust you." Cindy squeezed his arm.

"Thank you," George wrapped her hand in his. As much as he wanted to stay like that, the elevator bounced to a stop and the doors rolled open into the room Jim had shown them on the monitor.

"I can see you guys, it looks like I was right." Jim said.

Cindy took the radio from her belt. "It looks like you were why don't you keep being right and tell us where to go?"

"I wish I could, but you're going to have to look at that map there to figure that one out. I'll let you know what I can though."

David walked over to the map and pulled it off the wall. He scanned the paper for a minute and pointed to something. "Found it, it's not too far away."

George looked over his shoulder and followed the room marked "Emissions Tower" back to where they stood. It was only about five rooms away. Hopefully they would be able to get what they came for and get out quickly.

"This isn't that bad. Cindy can I have the radio?" George asked and held his hand out. She gave him the radio and looked at the map. "Jim, it's not that far, can you just tell us if you see any more of those wasps?"

"Will do, just watch your backs, there are a lot of dark spots."

"We'll do our best." George finished and gave Cindy the radio back.

"According to the map, we have to go that way." David said, looking up from the map and pointing to a door off to their left. "It should lead to an access waterway. So I guess we won't get to dry off yet."

"I was just starting to get a little comfortable too." Kevin complained.

"Getting a bit too used to that nice security room, huh?" David joked.

"It had its perks." Kevin retorted.

"I'll bet it did." David said with a wink.

"Why don't we quit the banter and get going boys." Cindy smirked.

"Yes ma'am." David tipped an invisible hat at Cindy and started toward the door. As David had said, the door read Access Waterway and led into a sewer-like construction with cement walls arched into a cylindrical enclosure. Directly in front of them was a set of stairs leading into a shallow river of water. Just above the din of the running water, George heard a soft clicking.

"Anyone else hear that?" He asked.

"Yeah, what is that?" Kevin added. He brought up his shotgun and aimed it down the stairs. Without waiting for anyone to answer, he began down the stairs. As soon as the sound of his boots clopping against the stairs mixed with the clicking, the clicking stopped. Kevin paused for a moment, but soon continued down the stairs cautiously. He stopped at the end of the stairs and just before the drop into the water. Hugging the wall, he slid out and peered around the corner. "Shit!"

Kevin screamed and pulled himself back around just in time to miss the largest spider George had ever seen launching itself at his head. The spider had odd green and black strips on its hairy back that made George think of a sickly tiger. It turned back toward Kevin with unnatural speed and raised its two front legs. Kevin let off a shot with his shotgun and sent the spider flying into the gate behind it. The spider landed on its back and for a split second looked like it was in trouble of not being capable of getting back onto its legs, but it righted itself quickly and hissed at Kevin. It raised its legs again and before Kevin could get a shot off, it squirted a dark green liquid-y goo at him.

Kevin fell backwards onto the stairs when the goo hit him. He cried out and wiped at his face, peeling the goo away and spitting the bits that got in his mouth out onto the stairs. David and Yoko were already firing at the spider as Cindy and George rushed to Kevin's side.

"Are you okay?" George asked.

"I feel like I'm going to throw up, that shit got in my mouth!" Kevin growled through coughing fits. "Other than that though, I feel fine."

Cindy produced a handkerchief from her pocket and gave it to Kevin. "We had better keep an eye on you just in case though."

"That was my thought too." George added. The firing had stopped and when George looked up, the spider was twitching lifelessly. "Is it dead?"

"I would say so, we shot it enough." David said.

"Good, I need to look at it." George said to no one in particular as he rummaged through his medical bag. He took out a syringe and an empty glass bottle. Carefully, George approached the corpse and prodded it with his foot. The spider shifted, but it looked like death throes to George and so he leaned in closer. He moved the mandibles and searched for any sacs that would carry the poison. It took him longer than he would have liked to admit—he usually operated on humans after all—and extracted some of the poison from the sacs. He injected the poison into the glass bottle and placed both the needle and the bottle in a side pocket of the bag. "I don't know if these things can spread their poison around through that goo, or if they need to bite you, but if you start to feel sick Kevin, I should be able to make you an antidote with this."

"Wow, Doc, you can do that?" David asked.

"Don't be too impressed, in _theory_ I can do that. I just hope I don't have to test that." George corrected him.

"I hope you don't have to either." Kevin said as he used the wall to stand up. "I think I'm good now, why don't we just get out of this damn room."

Following Kevin's advice, they made their way through to the next area where they found a scene of unrealistic destruction.

"Oh my God." Cindy whispered.

"How could this happen?" Yoko asked.

Before them was what remained of two large cargo trains. The tracks that they had once rode upon were curled up into the air and in certain sections were so completely torn up that large holes in the ground had replaced where they once were. The trains had collided a few hundred feet from where they stood and merged together from the force. Most of the cars were overturned and bent in angles that would have crushed anything inside.

George saw blood stains and burn marks covering large parts of the walls and in the distance, near where the trains collided, he saw bodies, but none of them were whole. It looked to him like some sort of explosion under the tracks had occurred and rent the area in two. Could they navigate this wreckage? As if answering George's unspoken question, David reassured everyone.

"The door we need to take is over there." David pointed to where George had seen the bodies. "We just need to find a way over there."

"There has to be a way over." Yoko said. "Maybe we can get across through one of those cars."

"Let's take a look." Kevin said and cautiously approached the nearest car. The pathway to the door they had to go through was clear except for a large gaping hole that fell down at least two stories next to one of the trains. Luckily, it looked like the train crossed the chasm. The car was balanced precariously over the chasm, only being held up by its wheels. Kevin tried the door on the car next to them and it opened easily. "Okay, let's take this slowly, I'll go first and see if it can support my weight."

When no one objected, Kevin climbed the short set of stairs onto the train and carefully made his way through the car. He walked to the end of the first car and stopped. Kevin hopped a short experimental hop. When the car didn't move, he tried a higher jump and then continued. The car didn't move.

"It feels pretty sturdy actually." Kevin said and continued through to the next car.

"Why don't you head through Yoko?" George suggested.

"Okay." Yoko nodded and climbed into the car. She passed through quickly and went into the second car about the time Kevin exited the train on the other side of the chasm.

David went next walking carelessly through the car. The car rattled softly as he moved. He stopped suddenly, aware that he was shaking the car, and continued into the second car with more care.

"You go next, I'll be right behind you." George said to Cindy and gently pushed her toward the stairs. She went up without need for any more coaxing. The car creaked as she moved so she slowed down and crept into the next car.

"George, wait until she comes out, I don't like how it's moving." Kevin shouted from across the chasm.

"I was just thinking that." George agreed. He took the medical bag off his shoulder and walked over to the edge of the chasm. "Here, hold this for me?"

Kevin held his hands out and George tossed the bag across the chasm. He caught it and placed it next to his feet. After another minute, Cindy walked out of the car and joined the rest of them. "Okay, go ahead!" Kevin shouted.

George climbed the stairs and took a look around the car. He was surprised to see seats. He had thought it was a cargo train by its size, but there must have been a train stop for the university here. Thankfully, it didn't look to have any passengers at the time of the crash.

He took his steps warily, making sure to limit his movement. Despite his caution, the car shook and rattled with each step. Where Kevin had been able to jump up and down, George felt the car sway with each step. He held onto the poles next to every other seat to steady himself as he walked. George was only a quarter of the way through the car when he heard the crack.

One of the wheels that was holding the car up snapped off. The whole car shifted slightly, causing George to slip and slide, but since he was holding onto the poles, he did not fall. For a moment, he thought he felt the car quaking, and thought he was going to go over the edge, but realized that it was _him_ that was shaking. He took a minute to calm himself and tried to will his heart to beat slower. After a while, George began to move again. The car swayed much more now and so he had to move even slower. By the time he was halfway through the car, he was concentrating entirely on placing one foot in front of the other.

Step.

Step.

Step.

George was only a few more steps from the end of the car when something caught his leg and pulled him to the floor. He crashed down with a resounding _thud_. He turned over to see a lone zombie pulling itself toward his leg. It moaned as best it could with half of its face missing and only a few stray tendons holding its flapping jaw onto the other half.

George wanted to kick at it, but instead tried to push its hand off. It wasn't working, the zombie's grip was too tight. He tried to back away to the door, but it held his leg steady.

"Shit, shit, shit," George cursed and futilely pushed at the zombie's face. "Get off me damnit!"

"George, what's going on?" Cindy called out.

"One of these bastard's got me!" He answered.

"Shoot it and move on!" David exclaimed.

"My gun's in the bag!" George shouted back. "To hell with it."

George kicked violently at the zombie's face, rocking the car with each blow. There was another _crack_ outside and the car shifted enough that the zombie was thrown to the side and George was able to use the momentum to knock it off. It stumbled backwards and hit the windows of the car heavily. He scrambled to his feet and made his way shakily into the second car just before the third and final _crack_ sounded.

The train cried out with one loud groan as the car he had just been in slid into the chasm, pulling the second car in with it. George fell backwards and caught onto one of the poles before he could fall through the door into the first car. He was dangling above the open doorway as the car slowly slid into the chasm. It stopped falling, but slid across the edge of the chasm and swung side to side, threatening to fall over, but not following through.

Breathing heavily, George pulled himself up so that he was hugging the pole and didn't move. He could hear the others calling to him, but all he could concentrate on was not slipping and falling. George hung there until his arms burned from the effort of keeping him up. When it was clear he had to move, George struggled and hauled his body up to the first set of seats. He stood on the seats and caught his breath.

Moving sloth-like, George climbed along the seats slowly, stopping every so often as the car swung back and forth to steady himself. He pictured himself climbing a ladder; it was easy since he was making the same movements. Hand over hand and foot over foot he made his way half-way through the car. When he reached the half-way point, he faced a problem. There was a gap between the seats that he couldn't cross by stretching. He was going to have to jump.

The car rocked and swayed like a pendulum, scraping and crying along the edge of the chasm making it hard for George to position himself into a suitable jump. He clambered up onto the last seat and hunched over unsteadily. He had to wait for the right moment to jump, if he jumped while the car was swinging the wrong way, he could miss the pole. George waited and watched as the car swung, calculating the most opportune time to jump. So, when the car swung back again, he leapt up and just barely caught the pole. Quickly, he readjusted his hands to compensate for the movement of the car and pulled himself up so that he could once again stand on the seats.

George didn't stop to catch his breath this time, the car was swinging more and more because of his climbing, and the metallic groans grew louder. He didn't have much time. If the car was going to fall, it was going to do it soon. As fast as his body would let him, George climbed up the seats one by one.

When he finally reached the door, the car had slipped farther into the hole and the door was no longer level with the edge of the chasm. George stood on the side of the door and squeezed through the narrow entrance. David and Kevin held out their hands for him, but he couldn't grab their hands even with the car swinging as it was. Once again, he would have to jump.

"You're going to have to catch me." George ordered.

"That's fine, just jump, we'll catch you." Kevin reassured him.

George he crouched down and got ready to spring forward. He took a deep breath and measured the swings of the car.

Toward. _One._

Away. _Two._

Toward. _THREE!_

George pushed off as hard as he could and slammed hard into the edge of the chasm, hitting it with his stomach. He folded over onto the floor so that only his legs were hanging over the edge. George felt two pairs of hands grabbing at his pants and hauling him over onto solid ground. He just laid there for a while breathing heavily. The car began to steady itself and eventually only swung a few inches either way.

"That was insane." Cindy said to George as she knelt down next to him. She pushed some of his hair away from his eyes. "You're going first next time."

"If I didn't risk my life, I wouldn't be able to lay here and have you care for me though." George said with a smile. Even though he was smiling, he could feel his legs starting to seize up again. "Here, help me up? I need to walk off some of this adrenaline."

Cindy pulled him up and George paced around, trying to get the pain to subside. He could feel his muscles tensing, and the pain was spreading.

"Are you okay to go on?" Yoko asked.

"Of course, just give me a minute to realize I'm not actually swaying still, and I'll be right as rain." George joked. They had to move on, the pain would subside soon enough and pacing around wasn't doing him any good. "I think I'm ready now, we can continue."

David led them through the door with the map held at his side in one hand and a pistol in his other hand. They entered the hallway Jim had shown them on the monitor with the zombies and wasps. There were doors at varying intervals along either wall until the right side abruptly stopped into the head of the T-intersection. From there the left wall continued the pattern of rooms, but the right wall had no more doors.

The radio at Cindy's side crackled. "I can see you guys. I don't see any of the wasps, but be careful you have two zombies waiting for you at the turn up ahead. They are right around the corner."

"Thanks Jim." Cindy replied.

The sound of the radio must have alerted them because as soon as Cindy replaced the radio at her side, the moans began. Two men in casual business attire and lab coats shuffled into view. Their faces were bloated and gross, unlike any other zombie George had seen. The only thing that came close was in the hospital in the woods where the plants had merged with the zombies. George shuttered at the thought.

"I got them." David said and took a few steps and shot the zombies in the head with two quick shots. He was far enough back that when the sores on the zombie's faces broke and puss and blood squirted out, he was clean of the splash area. "Oh God, what the hell?"

David covered his mouth with the back of his wrist and retreated a few paces.

"What happened to them?" Cindy asked.

"Do you think it was the wasps?" Yoko suggested. "I know bugs like that can cause allergic reactions, but I can only guess that, enhanced as they are, they might cause this."

"So getting stung is not an option." Kevin said.

"Yeah, I don't really have enough Epinephrine for that. Hell, I don't even know if that would work." George mused. "Let's just try to not find out."

"Then let's keep moving." David said. "There should be some stairs or something around the corner because we have to go up a level."

"I think I remember seeing a ladder on the monitor." Yoko added.

David nodded and walked around the corner. Sure enough, the ladder was right there, and so he began to climb. The ladder led them to an access hallway full of pipes and grated walk ways. There was only one exit, however, and the door read: **EMISSIONS TOWER**.

"Finally, now we can get this thing and get out of here." Kevin sighed and opened the door.

He hesitated to take a step when he saw what lay beyond the door. Inside, the Emissions Tower was covered in sticky, hexagonal, wax-like structures. The din of buzzing was ever present, and George could see movement overhead. They had found the hive.


	53. Chapter 53

"Dear Lord, how is this possible?" George asked. The buzzing was all encompassing, there had to be at least fifty of those wasps. Kevin took the first tentative step into the Emissions Tower. His next few steps were labored and George soon found out why. The ground was sticky, not sticky enough to entrap them, but more like the floor of a movie theater, except worse.

In front of them was a large cargo elevator that led to the top of the tower. George couldn't fathom why the university needed this tower in the first place, but he had long given up on trying to understand the structural design of the city he had once thought he knew.

"Do you think they know we're here?" Cindy asked.

"I don't know. They don't seem to be doing anything about us right now." David replied. He quickly made his way to the elevator and stopped. "It looks like the hive is above us for the most part. So the only way forward is up."

"We have to move fast though whatever we're looking for is most likely in here. They're not just going to let us take it." Kevin warned. "Be ready to fight our way out."

David nodded and pressed the button to call the elevator. Nothing happened. He pressed it again. "Shit, it's not working."

"Maybe some of the lines got corroded because of this stuff." Yoko said, pointing at the wax-like material all over the floor and walls.

"Let me call Jim to see if the computer is saying anything is wrong." Cindy suggested. She took out the radio and spoke into it. "Jim, the elevator in the Emissions Tower isn't working, does the computer say anything is wrong?"

"Hold on, let me check on it." Jim said. He was silent for a few moments and then the radio crackled again. "It's saying something shorted the power in the Power Supply Room. You're going to have to go turn it back on before you can use the elevator."

"Wonderful." David moaned. He took out the map and scanned it quickly. "That's back down the ladder and through a Store Room, we passed right by it."

"This should be quick then." George tried to sound optimistic.

"Any idea what we have to do to turn the power back on, Jim?" Cindy asked.

"I'm looking it up now. I think it's just turning the switches back on though, kind of like a breaker in a house." Jim said. "Let me get back to you on the details in a bit though."

Without any more discussion, they made their way back through the door and down the ladder into the T-hallway below. The Store Room was just around the corner to the right. Kevin sidled up to the door and prepared to swing in as they had gotten used to doing. He grabbed the knob, twisted, and found the door locked.

"I wish I was surprised." Kevin said. "Any other way in?" He directed at David.

"I don't see any on the map." David answered.

Kevin examined the door, it was metal, and by design, looked to be fairly sturdy. Regardless, Kevin kicked the door near the knob where it should be weakest. Despite kicking it multiple times, Kevin's assault on the door was ineffective. As Kevin wheeled back to kick again, Yoko stopped him.

"Look." She said and pointed to the wall on their right. At the bottom of the wall was a very narrow opening. It looked like a ventilation shaft, but when George crouched down, he could see through to the other side.

"That's a pretty small opening, I don't know if we'll fit." George said.

"That's why _we're_ not going." Cindy noted. "Yoko and I can fit easily enough. We'll just find a way around and unlock the door for the rest of you."

"I'm not comfortable with you going alone." George said.

"That's why Yoko is with me." Cindy arched an eyebrow as if to dare him to press the issue farther.

George opened his mouth to say something, but stopped. Cindy and Yoko were more than capable of handling themselves. Both of them had saved his life more than once throughout the night. "Be careful then." He said with a smile.

"Always." Cindy replied. "Are you ready?"

"Yes." Yoko said with a nod and followed Cindy through the hole in the wall. The hole was even too small to allow Cindy to move without difficulty, but they made it through to the other side and called back to reassure them that they were fine.

"I'm surprised you caved in that easily George." Kevin chided him. "If that was Alyssa I would have fought her tooth and nail to let me go instead."

"You mean like you fought her in the security room?" David chuckled.

"Well, I…that was different. You all needed me, and she has Mark and Jim."

George shrugged. "We're all different people than when we met earlier. I think Cindy can handle herself better than I can. Sometimes I wonder if I'd slow her down."

"From what I've seen, you haven't slowed down at all tonight. I think you'll be fine." Kevin laughed.

"Perhaps." George was unconvinced. His legs still hurt, his arms were tensing up, and he felt drained, both physically and emotionally. He shook his head, he probably just needed something to eat, he hadn't eaten in a few hours and he'd been running around for most of the night. As if realizing he had been thinking about food, George's stomach growled uproariously.

"I heard that." David said and rubbed his stomach. "I feel like I haven't eaten in days."

Days? It felt like George had been starving for months. His mouth was suddenly very wet. He needed something to eat. A hamburger would work great, thinking about that made his stomach ache even more, the red juice just dripping down his chin…

George took a deep breath and cast the image from his mind, thinking about food only made it worse, so he tried to think of anything else, but it was difficult. Thankfully, he didn't have to wait long for a suitable distraction. A gun shot sounded from within the Store Room.

Cindy opened the door in front of them before they could say anything. "No need to worry, we cleared the room for you guys."

George smiled. Maybe even he couldn't slow her down.

The Supple Room was aptly named. Shelves enveloped the walls of the room, each laden with stacks of bound blank copy paper, pens, pencils, and other office supplies, as well as some maintenance supplies like light bulbs and various tools. Yoko was already trying the only other door in the room, but found it locked.

"There's another opening here, I'll go and unlock the door from the other side." She said and started through the hole before anyone could object.

"Why even lock the doors if there's always an opening right next to it?" Cindy wondered.

"There were probably grates on them sometime before tonight." George suggested.

"Maybe, but it's still a pretty big security flaw." Cindy shrugged.

"You must be the master thief they hadn't prepared for."

"I do look good in tights." Cindy smirked.

"I'll have to take your word for it."

"For now." Cindy said and started toward the door as Yoko opened it. "You coming?"

George could only nod and follow. The Power Supply Room was small. George stood in the doorway because the room was full with only Cindy, Yoko, and David. When Kevin saw how crowded it was, he told them that they could handle it and started looking around the room.

"Jim, we're in the Power Supply Room, any more news on resetting the power?" Cindy asked into the radio.

"I'm just finishing the last of the instructions. They are a bit complicated, but what I gather is that you just need to turn on all of the lights on a large panel. It should be in front of you there. Do you see it?"

The breaker took up the majority of the room, but as Jim had said in the middle of the breaker was a large panel with a grid of buttons. Only a few of the buttons were lit up.

"I see it, so I just have to push each of these buttons?" Cindy asked.

"It's not that simple. Each button turns on adjacent buttons in a plus pattern—it's a function of the circuit apparently. So each button will turn on at max four others. The tricky part is that if a button that is already lit up is turned on again it trips the circuit and turns that button off. Do you see what I'm saying?"

"So we have to turn them all on and if the plus pattern hits a button twice it will turn it off?"

"Pretty much, just try it out and see what I mean." Jim suggested.

David pressed one of the buttons and the button lit up, each of the buttons above, below, and to each side also lit up. He pressed the button to the right and not only did that button extinguish, but so did the button he had first pressed. "I think I get it."

He repeated the process backwards to reset the buttons and stroked his chin as he thought. "I can get this, but let me think on this for a little while.

George turned around to give David some space and saw that Kevin had disappeared.

"Kevin?" He called out. "Kevin?"

George walked over to the door and called out his name again. Cindy followed him to the door and called to Kevin with him.

"Over here!" Kevin screamed from around the corner, near the ladder. He was in a side room that they had passed by. "I just figured I'd look around while you all worked on the power. I figured I wouldn't be missed."

"I wish you would have said something." George softly scolded the man.

"Sorry about that, it was getting kind of hot in there, and I didn't mean to be gone for long, but I found this. Take a look." Kevin handed George a clipboard. There were notes pinned to the board. "It looks like these pricks made these giant wasps months ago. They needed a 'cheap vessel' to incubate something."

"It's a virus." George said, and suddenly understood. "That's why we need the venom. Regular wasp venom isn't potent enough, so they had to make a larger, more powerful version. Using wasps also means cooperation in the task. They could let the little workers do the job for them. What the hell was the point of this?"

"Someone created those things?" Cindy asked incredulously.

"According to this, they not only created them, they helped the development along as much as they could. They weeded out the weak so only the strong survived. It's unnatural selection on steroids." George tapped the paper as he spoke. He put it down on the table disgusted by it. Was Peter involved in this?

"George, was Peter…?" Cindy never finished her question because the lights suddenly turned on.

"We had better get back to the elevator."

David and Yoko were waiting for them outside of the Supply Room. "It took us longer than I would have liked, but we got it." David said.

"Let's just get this over with." George intoned. He climbed the ladder quickly and made his way through the access way into the Emissions Tower. If it was possible, the din of the beating wings was louder than last time. The room itself was only minutely brighter, but it was noticeable.

David tried the elevator again and this time it hummed to a start. The elevator began its slow descent.

"How is it so hot in here?" Kevin asked as he pulled his shirt away from his chest. "I'm sweating bullets."

"It feels fine to me." David said.

"How can you say that, it feel like a—" Kevin wasn't able to finish his sentence. He lurched forward and vomited. The liquid was mostly bile, but some of it was blood as well. Kevin swayed on his feet and started to fall. David was there to catch him.

"Damn it," David let out as he shifted Kevin in his arms. Kevin turned away from David and let out another, smaller bought of vomit. "What's wrong?"

"I was worried this would happen." George complained as he reached into his bag and brought out the spider venom. The elevator _dinged_ and the door slid upward. "Get him onto the elevator."

David dragged Kevin onto the metal floor of the elevator and laid him down gently. Yoko turned to push the button for up when she screamed. One of the large wasps flew down in front of her and landed on the control panel.

"We don't need this right now." George growled. "David, Yoko, keep them off us, Cindy I need you to help me make the antidote."

David took his flamethrower out of his side pouch and started it up. He let out a long blast of fire and burned the wasp off the control panel. It fell off without any resistance, twitching and writhing as the flames consumed its body. Yoko slammed her palm across the up button. The elevator lurched to a start.

George took out a bottle of distilled water and began to work, mixing the venom in with some other ingredients from his bag. He worked quickly, but carefully. He'd read about making antidotes before, but never actually had to make one. It was tricky, and he only hoped that he would get the mixtures correct.

David and Yoko did their best to fight off the wasps as they found their way into the elevator. In only a few minutes, the floor was littered with the burning bodies of wasps. David's flamethrower was working as well as he had said it would.

George was finishing up the antidote when David cursed loudly. He looked up to see David shaking the can and then tossing it aside. David pulled out his pistol and started firing with Yoko at the wasps, but they were coming too fast. The noise of the wasps was growing louder and louder until it was a cacophonous mixture of wings and death cries.

Finally, George finished the antidote. Taking a syringe from the medical bag, George extracted the bluish liquid from the bottle he had used to mix it. He was readying the needle when he felt the wasp land on his back. George's eyes went wide and all he could do was look at Cindy in horror. She gasped and dropped the empty bottle she was holding.

George thought back to what he had said about the Epinephrine. He wondered if maybe he was mistaken, maybe there was enough if he injected it quick enough. He had never been allergic to wasps before, so maybe he didn't need as much as he had thought. Of course, he wasn't allergic, it would be fine. It would be fine.

There was a burning sensation and a dull kick on his back. Did it hurt? He couldn't tell. Other than the burning, he felt fine. Maybe the poison was working already.

"George, get back to work." Kevin muttered. His shotgun was still propped up against George's back.

George felt his back, some bits of the wasp remained, and there was a lot of blood, but none of it was his. He let out a breath that he hadn't realized he was holding. "Thanks. Now hold still, this might hurt."

The needle went into Kevin's neck smoothly enough, and Kevin did his best not to flinch, but George knew it had to be painful.

"How close are we to the top?" George asked Cindy. She checked while he finished tending to Kevin. Kevin's head was still hot, and his heart rate was still too high, but both were better than they had been when George had started.

"We're almost there." Cindy said.

"David, I'm going to be carrying Kevin, I need you to look for the venom." George brought Kevin up to a seated position and wrapped Kevin's arm around his shoulder. With Cindy's help, George pulled Kevin to his feet as the elevator came to a stop. The door slid upward showing a hive-covered walkway.

"David," Kevin said. "Take this." He held the shotgun out.

"Thanks."

"It'll work better than your shitty flamethrower." Kevin laughed out.

"It just might." David said and led them out of the elevator. "George, look up there."

David pointed to a door on a level above them. It looked clear of the hive's sticky structure.

"Looks good, meet us in there when you find the venom." George said. Yoko and Cindy walked in front of him with guns drawn, shooting at any wasps that got close. A few times George and Kevin had to shoot one or two down with their free hands. Climbing the stairs proved to be difficult for both George and Kevin. Kevin was still weak from the spider's venom and George's legs were still stiff from the virus.

"George you look like you're having as much trouble as I am. What's wrong?" Kevin asked as they struggled up the stairs.

"You're just heavier than I thought. I'm fine otherwise." George managed through gritted teeth.

"You look like you're ready to collapse, you need to rest." Kevin warned him.

"I'll rest when we're safely out of the city. Until then, I'm still able-bodied." George said, but when Kevin continued to look at him askance, he added. "When we get back to the security room, we'll both rest for a bit before going back out."

"I guess we really can't take too long if we're on a time limit." Kevin relented.

"That's all I'm saying." George lied.

Cindy opened the door for them and ushered the rest of them through the door. Yoko motioned for Cindy to go through without her.

"I'm going to go back for David, he might need help." She said.

"Okay, be careful." Cindy said with a nod and shut the door behind her.

They were in a room that had all of the accoutrements of a control room. There were panels with more buttons than George could guess, a single desk with papers strewn over the desktop, and one other door on the opposite side of the room. George put Kevin down in one of the chairs and tried the door, it was locked, but the lock was on his side, so George unlocked it. He opened the door into a familiar scene. The parking lot they had climbed out from the sewers into greeted him.

"Shit, that parking lot is out here, I think we might have to cross the bridge again." George said.

"The one with the sharks?" Cindy asked.

"Yes, and we left one of them alive, I doubt it will be easy to get across safely with Kevin like this." George paced as he spoke. "If we can carry him, we might be able to move quickly, it will be tough, but we might be able to do it."

"Hold on, we might not have to do any of that." Kevin moved some of the papers on the desk. "Jim was telling me that the door in that parking lot is locked with a card lock. Well," Kevin held up an I.D. badge, "I think the Dean of Natural Sciences might have access."

George took the badge from him and ran across the parking lot to the door Kevin was talking about. It was a large set of thick mahogany doors with a card reader to the right of the doorway. He slid the card through the reader and the light turned from red to green. George let out a sigh of relief and returned to the office.

"It worked." George handed the badge back to Kevin. "Nice find."

"It's not hard if you slow down every once and a while." Kevin arched his eyebrows and looked to Cindy.

George took the slight in silence. He knew Kevin was just worried about him, but if he knew how bad George really was, he would worry too much and George wouldn't be able to help out. He didn't want everyone to look at him like he was going to turn at any moment. Even though George was beginning to wonder that. Could he be trusted?

David and Yoko burst through the door before George could have any more time to follow that thought. Yoko turned around and slammed the door closed just in time to stop a wasp from coming in after them.

"Were any of you stung?" George asked.

"No, and I think I found what we're looking for." David held a vial out to George. There was a label on it that read: **V-POISON**. "There was a collection device almost completely covered by the hive."

"That seems like it's what we came for to me." George said and gave the vial to Yoko. "Would you mind holding this?"

Yoko took the vial and put it gently into her backpack.

"Hey, guys, where are you?" Jim asked.

Cindy took out the radio. "We just got the venom. We're coming back now."

"I don't want to alarm you, but you need to be careful on your way back. I just saw that 'Thanatos' monster that the crazy guy let loose walking around on the first floor. It's just wandering around for now, but things could get ugly real fast if you're not careful."

"I forgot about that damn thing." David said.

"Me too, we had more things to worry about." George added.

"Thanks for the info Jim, keep us up to date on where he is if you can." Cindy replied.

"Will do, just make it back here," Jim said and then added in a softer voice, "Alyssa is getting stir crazy. She's making me check up on you guys every two minutes. I didn't say that though. Hurry back!"

"We had better get this guy back to his lady love then." David said. "I'll carry him, why don't you take this George?"

David held the shotgun out to George, who took it gratefully. Kevin wasn't heavy per se, but his earlier point stood, George needed the rest.

"Come on Romeo, up and at 'em." David knelt down so Kevin could grab a hold of his shoulder. "Do we have a way back? I don't think we can take the route we came in from."

"We have one, just follow me." George said and led them across the parking lot to the large set of mahogany doors.

"For a second I thought we were going to have to go across that bridge again." David said.

"You can thank Kevin for that." George noted and opened the doors into a long industrial hallway.

Exposed piping ran along the ceiling on either side, following the corridor down and to the right. The walls had a hastily applied coat of gray paint that flaked off more than covered the wall. Just before the hallway turned was a sparking electrical box that seemed to control the electricity to a damaged wire around the corner.

George held up a hand as they approached the electrical box. The wire was sparking in time with the box, so George wondered if he could turn it off before they tried to pass it. The switches were flicked left and right randomly, but one was stuck in between the two settings. George flicked the switch to the right.

A brilliant explosion of electricity shot out of the wires and struck the floor below. Bits of plaster and cement shot up into the air and rained down pattering against the floor. The wires were dancing as electricity continued to shoot into the floor. George quickly flipped the switch to the left. Instantly, the electricity stopped and the wires ceased to move. George waved his hand to clear the haze of dust that billowed out of the hole.

"It's probably a good thing we turned that off." Cindy said.

"I think I agree with you on that." George laughed. He carefully made his way around the wires and then followed the hallway around to the left. At the end of the hallway was a single door.

"Jim, any idea where the Thanatos monster is?" Cindy asked into the radio.

"He was around the elevator room you have to head to, but he heard something, so I think you should be all clear now." Jim said.

"It's not us it heard, right?" David sounded worried.

"Let's not stick around to find out." Cindy suggested.

George opened the door and walked into another hallway, however, this hallway was the polar opposite of the one in which they had just been. Ornate wooden display shelves adorned the walls in evenly spaced intervals. Inside each were various trophies the university had won ranging from collegiate academic competitions to sports trophies. At the far end of the hallway, just before it turned to the right, was a marble bust of one of the university's past presidents proudly displayed with his painting above the bust. The walls were papered in a design that exuded sophistication and class.

"I remember this room." George said as they walked past the marble bust. "Peter took me here when he was showing me around the first time he got a job here."

"So you know where we're at then?" Cindy asked.

"Yes, the main hall should be just beyond the next room." George pointed to the door as it came into view around the corner. "I think that's a waiting room."

He was right, although unless Peter had told him it was a waiting room he would have never known it to be one. The room was almost identical to the last with the display cases and another bust, but the room formed a U shape. The narrow and enclosed shape of the room wasn't very conducive to waiting.

"This is a waiting room?" Yoko asked.

"I would have chosen another room too." George explained. As they followed the room around, George spotted a zombie waiting by the door to the main hall. He approached it carefully and dispatched it easily with one shot. He stepped around the body and reached for the door.

Nearby, the sound of an angry roar pierced the silence. It must have been the wiring that the monster had heard, it was only a few rooms away, and it just heard the gun shot.

"We have to go, now." Kevin said.

"It's coming for you!" Jim's voice called out from Cindy's side.

George pushed the shotgun into Cindy's hands and took Kevin's other arm around his shoulder. Cindy led them into the main hall. They sprinted as fast as Kevin could handle across the main hall toward the door with the elevator. As Cindy and Yoko reached the door, well before George, David, and Kevin, Thanatos burst through the waiting room door.

"Hurry!" Cindy screamed as she ushered them through the doorway. She slammed it shut behind them while Yoko ran to the elevator and jammed the call button.

"Come on, come on, COME ON!" Yoko chanted as she jumped up and down. The elevator _dinged_ as the men passed the monitors Jim had used only half an hour ago. Yoko ran in and pressed the third floor button, holding one arm out to block the door sensors to keep the elevator open.

As the group piled into the elevator the door at the far end of the room exploded, sending large splinters of wood into the opposite wall and pushing the door frame out at an odd angle. Thanatos calmly stepped through the hole and surveyed the room. Its clawed fingers danced idly back-and-forth in the air as Thanatos looked at the now broken monitors.

Yoko jabbed the door close button as fast as she could. Thanatos soon tired of the monitors and turned to the elevator. The clawed fingers stopped dancing and instead stood at attention like soldiers at war. That roar they had heard only a minute ago sounded much more threatening up close as Thanatos let out a blood curdling scream.

The doors began the slow process of closing as Thanatos leapt into a run. Cindy pulled the shotgun up and squeezed off a shot, hitting Thanatos square in the chest. It fell to the side and grabbed at its exposed heart, slowing it down enough that the doors closed before it could reach them. The outer door reverberated with the sound of Thanatos' shoulder colliding against it.

The ascent was quiet and tense as they waited for the monster to somehow attack them, but it never came. Instead, the doors rolled open on the third floor and they somberly walked back into the security room. They had completed two of the three tasks, and George thought he should feel proud about that, but a realization had come to him on the elevator. The last ingredient was "Blood of the Beast," and after seeing that monster up close, and seeing its exposed heart, George knew from which beast they had to take the blood. The only question was how did they get it?


	54. Chapter 54

"Does anyone know when dawn is?" George asked. He had been pacing back and forth trying to form a plan of attack against Thanatos before suggesting that its blood might be the third ingredient. So far, he couldn't think of anything. They would obviously need to kill it first, but when Cindy shot it almost at point-blank range with the shotgun, it shrugged it off. He didn't know if they had enough firepower to take it down.

"I think it's supposed to be at 5:50." Jim answered.

"What time is it now?" George let himself drop into a chair heavily.

"Just after 4:30." Jim said, looking at his watch. "Not much time left."

George sighed, if Peter's escape plan was to be trusted, then someone was coming at dawn. The night was almost over, but they didn't have the cure yet. They were running out of time. George scratched his arm idly; it had begun to itch on the elevator and only intensified since. _He_ was running out of time.

George rubbed his temples as he thought. He felt like he was thinking slower than he should be and a low throbbing headache had been plaguing him since they got into the university. "I think I might know what the last ingredient is, but I almost don't want to be right." He said finally.

"Thanatos?" Cindy asked.

"You saw the heart too?" George looked puzzled.

"The heart? I saw it, but it just made sense that it's the beast Peter was talking about. What else could it be? We've been all over the university and that crazy guy on the monitor seemed to prize this one monster over all of the other ones in here. That's my reasoning." Cindy said with a shrug.

"That's all well and good, but how are we supposed to get that thing's blood?" Kevin asked.

"I can get the blood with a needle, I have plenty and most will be strong enough to pierce its heart, but I need to get close enough to do that. I think we're going to need to find a way to put it down without completely destroying its heart." George explained. "That is where I'm coming up empty. How much ammunition do you all have?"

"I've got a few clips left." David said as he rummaged through his side bag he put the clips on the table.

"I'm at about the same." Mark tossed his clips to David, who added them to the pile.

The rest put their ammunition on the table. It came out to less than four full clips per able-bodied person and a box of shells. Everyone who could fight took his or her allotment.

"Do you think this is enough?" Yoko asked.

"The way that thing shrugged off the shotgun? I think we just need something _bigger_. Like an explosive or something." Kevin suggested.

"If we're wishing for things, why don't we go for a tank?" David added with a laugh.

"I'm just saying." Kevin shot David a look.

"I'm not saying I don't agree with you, just that we need to think within our means." David turned his hands up and spoke as if he were only stating facts.

"What if we make explosives?" Yoko asked. "I remember doing that in the underground laboratory."

"Do you know how to make them with what we have around here?" George asked, waving his arm around the room.

"Probably not." Yoko admitted, she frowned and leaned back against the wall. Almost as soon as she was against the wall, she pushed herself back off. "Wait, do we have to kill it?"

"I think we probably have to." George said.

"We just need the blood, and you need to get close to get the blood. What if we just stun it? What if we just _shock_ it?" Yoko said.

George thought about what she was saying, and then he understood. "The wires."

"Yes, what if we use them to stun it and then when it's stunned you can get the blood. It's risky, but I think we can do it." Yoko sounded excited.

"That…that might actually work." David sounded impressed. "We just need to lure it under the wires first. Jim, where is it now?"

Jim cycled through monitors with a few keystrokes until he found Thanatos. "It's just outside the president's room on the second floor."

"Let's get out there then." David said, checking that his pistol had a round chambered.

"Wait, I don't think I can go out there just yet." Kevin said wearily. "I think we need to take a minute and just collect ourselves."

"We do still have about an hour and a half. We can take twenty minutes to catch our breaths, right?" George asked.

"I guess it would be bad to go off half-cocked." David admitted and took an empty chair.

"Once we do have the blood, what then?" Alyssa asked.

"Do you see that machine over there?" George asked and pointed to a machine that had slots for multiple vials. The spots for the vials were attached to a large, hollow, circular drum.

"What about it?" She continued.

George stood up and walked over to Yoko. "Can I have the Venom?"

"Of course." Yoko reached into her backpack and pulled out the purple vial.

George took it from her and, on the way to the machine, picked up the P-Base from the table next to Jim. "We have to put the ingredients in here," George demonstrated by placing the two vials next to each other and hooking them up to the machine, "and then that machine will mix them together until they homogenized. That should, in theory, make the cure that Peter was talking about." George explained. "Although, we really won't know if it worked until we don't turn."

"So we assume it worked until we're munching on each other." Alyssa didn't even try to feign enthusiasm. "Better than nothing I suppose."

"How are you doing?" Kevin asked.

"Could be better, I feel like I've been turned inside out, and then put back again. I think that sums it up well enough." Alyssa groaned as she finished and let her head fall onto Kevin's shoulder.

George resumed his seat, and they waited the rest of the twenty minutes in silence until David broke it to tell them it was time to go. George wished he had another twenty minutes, but he could feel his body relaxing enough to keep moving. He had started to drift off to sleep, and was afraid that if he did have another twenty minutes, he would probably give in to that sleep.

"Jim, where is Thanatos now?" George asked.

Since he had been watching Thanatos the entire time, Jim's reply was quick. "It's moved out onto the balcony of the main hall, but it's still on the second floor."

"We just have to get it follow us into that hallway with the wire then." George said.

"You make it sound so simple." David said flatly.

"In theory it is, in practice we just have to not get killed." George explained with a shrug. "Kevin are you okay to come with us?"

"I'm feeling a lot better now, I think I can manage." Kevin said, groaning as he stood up. "I just need to walk it off now."

"Don't strain yourself." Alyssa warned him. "It's not easy to just 'walk that off.'"

"You'll have to make up your mind, whether you want me to stay or go." Kevin said.

"What I _want_ isn't one of those options. Just be careful." Alyssa raised an eyebrow and nodded toward the door.

"Will do." Kevin leaned over and kissed her on the top of the head. "We had better get to it before Thanatos decides we're not worth waiting around for."

The elevator ride was quick, but when they reached the first floor, the doors did not open. The outer door, which Thanatos had dented, was preventing the doors from opening. Kevin and David had to force them apart.

"That might make getting back up difficult. We'll have to shut the inner doors manually." George noted.

"Then we will have to make sure we have plenty of time when we come back." Cindy added.

David, who had ignored the conversation, was already at the door at the end of the hallway. He slowly opened the door a crack and peered out. George opened his mouth to chastise him, but realized they needed to keep quiet. David opened the door farther until he could poke his head out. He took a long look around and leaned back out of the main hallway.

"Did you see anything?" Kevin asked.

"No," David shrugged, "I didn't hear anything either."

Cindy held a finger up and turned the radio down to the lowest audible setting. "Jim, is Thanatos still out there?" She whispered.

"It's on the second floor balcony; you should see it once you step outside." Jim thankfully whispered back.

"It's fast, so I think we just need to run as fast as we can over to that maintenance hallway with the wire. Pissing it off won't be a problem." Kevin explained.

"Maybe we should be as quiet as possible until we get across the main hall though, just in case it's faster than we expect." Yoko added.

"Good point." Kevin nodded. "So we sneak underneath it until we get to the door that leads to the waiting rooms. You all should get a head start, no need for all of us to be standing around, and I'm the fastest. Then I'll make a hell of a racket until it gets pissed off."

When no one argued, Kevin cautiously slipped through the door and ushered the others into the main hall. He lagged behind and followed at a distance. As he crept through the main hall, George switched between eyeing the stairwell and looking at the platform above him. He was suddenly hyper aware that Thanatos was only a few feet above him. His heart was pounding in his chest, which only made him worry that the monster would be able to heart that.

Excellent hearing, however, was not one of the monster's abilities because after only a minute, they were safely opening the door to the waiting rooms. Quietly, everyone but Kevin passed through the door. Kevin waved them to the other end of the hallway.

"Get going, I'll catch up. Someone be prepared with the switch." Kevin whispered loudly enough so that the group could hear him.

"You three go ahead, I'm going to make sure he doesn't trip while he's trying to play hero." David whispered.

George nodded and started down the hall. He didn't like that they were taking what he considered to be an enormous risk, but he neither had a better plan nor was he in the physical condition to play the part of bait. Cindy followed him after warning David to be careful.

Yoko pouted her lips and was about to say something, but instead just briefly squeezed David's arm and continued down the hall after George and Cindy.

"Come on, we had better hurry up." George said and started off into a jog. They ran through the next room and got halfway in before they heard Kevin screaming and banging the door in the main hall. There was a loud roar shortly after. They sprinted the rest of the distance into the maintenance hallway. George stopped just inside the door and wedged a piece of trash underneath it so it would stay open.

Cindy reached the switch first and positioned herself at the switch. George and Yoko stood just next to the wires, watching the open door for when Kevin and David would round the corner. They didn't have to wait long because David slid around the corner precariously, pushing against the wall to stay upright. Kevin came right behind him and nearly fell, but David stabilized him and pulled him for a few strides before letting go.

Before they could get halfway to George and Yoko, Thanatos careened around the corner, smashing through the wall. Thanatos disappeared for a few seconds, but came crashing through the wall again closer to Kevin and David.

"Cindy, get ready!" George yelled. He watched as the two men crossed the threshold into the maintenance hallway with Thanatos hot on their tail. Not wanting to be in the way, George pulled Yoko onto the other side of the wires and past Cindy.

"Coming around the corner!" David screamed. He and Kevin appeared moments after, with Thanatos swinging its claw wildly right behind them. They closed the distance and dove passed the sparking wires a few feet before Thanatos stepped under them.

A brilliant, white, light filled the hallway at nearly the same time a resounding boom clapped. Thanatos stood stock-still as the electricity pulsed through its body, its claws stretched out at its side, and its mouth agape in pain.

After only a few seconds, Cindy shut the current off and Thanatos collapsed onto its knees. George was ready with a needle in hand. He ran at the monster and plunged the needle into its exposed heart and pulled back in the plunger. The blood came out, a dark and viscous liquid. George filled the needle fully.

He pulled it out and started to turn around when Cindy screamed. He didn't feel the blow at first; instead, he only noticed he had been hit when he was sprawled out on the floor a few feet away from Thanatos.

The monster was starting to recover from the shock, but Cindy didn't give it a chance. She flicked the switch again. The electricity shot back down through the wires and into the monster below. This time, however, Cindy left the current on.

"I hope you fry you bastard." Cindy said and turned to George. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I got what we need, now let's get out of here." He explained and pointed toward the door behind them. George put a cap on the needle and placed it in his bag before standing up. He used the wall to balance for a few paces until he felt comfortable standing on his own.

The door led them into the now very familiar parking lot. George regretted that they would have to brave that shark again, but he didn't blame Cindy for what she had done. They moved rapidly through the parking lot and down the stairwell to the dock below. Other than the dead sharks on the bridge, the dock seemed quiet.

Kevin and David led them on the floating bridge, pushing the two carcasses out of the way as they moved quickly across the water. George had kept an eye out for the last remaining shark, but only thought he saw a fin moving in the water. It either had given up, or was actually _afraid_ of them. That was so ridiculous of an idea that George almost laughed, but didn't because the others would wonder why.

Inside the main building once again, David called the elevator. It arrived soon after and George slumped against the inside of the elevator, taking a much needed rest. They had finally gathered all of the ingredients, and whatever rescue Peter had organized was going to be arriving in less than an hour. George smiled as the elevator doors rolled closed.

The lights in the elevator flickered and then everything shut off.

The failure only lasted for a few brief moments, but as the power came back on, they heard a telltale roar.

"It's loose." Yoko said.

"It doesn't know where we are, as long as it doesn't find us, we should be safe." Kevin explained.

"How is it now dead?" Cindy asked.

The elevator began its three floor ascent slowly. It hadn't gotten far when a thunderous screech pierced the silence and the elevator ground to a halt.

"What the hell was that?" Kevin demanded. He jammed the button for the third floor and growled when the elevator only shook.

The screen above the doorway glowed with an iridescent "1." Next to the elevator panel, a red light began to flash, and the interior doors rolled open, showing the security room on the first floor. With a cursory glance, George spotted the problem. As he had predicted, the exterior doors were causing the elevator to get stuck. A portion of the metal was bent at the top of the elevator, blocking the car from being able to go up. It was bent in such a way that they were able to push passed it on the way down, but now it was preventing them from going up.

"Shit, how are we going to get that thing out of the way?" David asked.

"You're the handy guy, can't _you_ think of something?" Kevin answered him.

"If I had the right tools and a couple of hours, yeah, maybe. Right now though? I think we should start looking for a different way upstairs."

Another roar came from closer to the elevator.

"We might not get that chance; I think it heard that noise." Cindy said.

"We can't just sit here." George explained.

"Look up!" Yoko pointed at the ceiling. In one of the corners of the ceiling was a trap door. "Lift me up and I'll take a look inside."

"Better than what we've got so far." Kevin said as he knelt down for Yoko. She stepped up on his shoulders and reached up to undo the latch on the door. It swung down and Yoko climbed up.

"There's a ladder up here!" Yoko called back into the elevator. "We can use it to get to up."

"Good enough for me." David knelt down next to Kevin and put his hands out. "Ladies first."

Cindy stepped into both of their hands and climbed onto the roof of the elevator. As soon as Cindy was on the roof, Yoko started up the ladder.

"George, you're next." Kevin said.

George stepped into their hands, took hold of Cindy's from above, and hauled himself through the door. Following Yoko's lead, Cindy started up the ladder. As George turned to reach back down through the trap door though, an explosive like sound rang out from the main hall. "Take my hand, hurry!" George yelled into the elevator.

"Go David!" Kevin grabbed at the other man's foot and lifted him into the trap door. George grabbed David by the belt and fell back as he yanked him onto the roof.

Thanatos crashed into the security room.

"Kevin!" David was leaning halfway into the elevator as he screamed Kevin's name. His hand was outstretched, ready to pull him up. Kevin ran at the wall, and jumped up, using the railing as a base and grabbed David's arm.

Thanatos charged at Kevin as David and George hauled him bodily onto the roof. George watched as Thanatos struck the wall where Kevin had only moments before been dangling. It jumped up and slashed at the ceiling, cutting large swaths in the metal. A shrill beeping noise started sounding in the elevator and an orange light flickered on and off inside. One of the cables that held the elevator up creaked and groaned.

"Get on that ladder now!" Kevin screamed.

George was the first one on the ladder; he climbed as fast as he could. He didn't look down when he heard the first cable snap, but when the second soon followed, he glanced down to see Kevin scrambling on the elevator toward the ladder. The elevator slammed against the wall as the third cable snapped, throwing Kevin against the wall next to the ladder. He took a hold of the lowest rung he could reach and held on as the final cable snapped and the elevator plummeted below.

Kevin cried out as he hung from the ladder by one hand. David, still not far up the ladder, climbed down and pulled Kevin back onto the ladder.

"Can you please not get hurt anymore? There's a woman up there that would probably kill me if you didn't come back." David jokingly pleaded.

"I'll try." Kevin managed as he secured himself on the ladder.

Yoko and Cindy had managed to pry the exterior doors to the third floor open and were waving them up. The ascent to the third floor was tiring, but incident free after that. With the last ingredient in hand, they made their way to the third floor security room, and finally toward a cure for the virus.


	55. Chapter 55

(A/N): With this chapter, the story of the survivors comes to a close. I want to take the time to thank all of you whom have read this over the past five years (today is the fifth anniversary of me writing this). There were times I didn't think I was going to continue writing this, but because of you all I did, and I think it has greatly benefited me because of it. So, once again, thank you all for reading.

Also, if anyone is interested (a few of you have messaged me about this), I am going to be putting this out in a hard copy (it will be at cost, so whatever it costs to print is what it's going up for). If you have any interest please visit my deviantart page for details. .com.

George walked into the security room and immediately went over to the customized centrifuge. He took out the blood filled needle, injected it into one of the empty vials, and placed it into the machine next to the other two ingredients. Cindy came up next to him as he was irritably stabbing at the buttons on the machine, trying to figure out how to start it.

"I can't believe we actually did it." She said sitting on the table next to the machine. "After all of this time, we found a cure."

"Maybe." George said and finally found the command to initiate the centrifuge. "We can only hope this is a cure."

"Don't be so pessimistic!" Cindy smacked him on the arm. "I think we all need a little morale boost right now. Let's just, for the moment, assume that this is a cure. If it's not, we'll worry about it then."

"Point taken." George punctuated the sentence with the low mechanical hum of the centrifuge starting up. "It shouldn't take more than a few minutes, how's everyone holding up?"

"Better than we ought to be." Cindy explained, and then changed the subject. She turned to look out of the window. "Hey, when did Peter say his rescue was coming?"

"Dawn, why?"

"Doesn't the sky seem brighter to you?" Cindy nodded toward the window.

"Shit, we don't have much time." George looked at his watch. It was already 5:30, and dawn was in another twenty minutes. "We have to let them know we're in here."

"How will we do that? Who's even coming?" Cindy asked.

George bit his lip and thought, he didn't know, and that frustrated him. They had been concentrating so heavily on figuring out how to gather the ingredients for the cure that they hadn't even considered the rescue. There had to be a way to figure out who was coming for them, and alert them to the situation. Peter was dead, but hopefully they didn't need him alive to convince the rescue party to take them. If only Peter…

Peter! Peter had called _him_. There must be a radio in the university somewhere, and it was probably in the security room. They didn't need to find out who was coming, they could broadcast on multiple frequencies until someone picked up.

"Jim, can you—"George began and then stopped. The monitors flickered and then changed to show Greg standing in his laboratory once again. He cleared his throat and spoke.

"I have been watching you all for a while now. At first, I didn't understand what you were doing, but then I remembered something one of my researchers brought to my attention. He had informed me that he discovered a 'cure' for the virus that is the basis for my magnificent masterpiece. He told me that if any accidents happen, we would be able to suppress the virus so that none of the researchers were changed. All it would take is three ingredients that we were already using to enhance the virus.

"I can see he had gotten to you before I could cut his little experiment short. Why is it that you _people_ can't understand how glorious this discovery is? Are you too stupid to see how this can benefit us? Humans are so woefully flawed. Every part of our body is so equal. Strength, nutrients, blood, all flowing evenly throughout our body. We are built to be Jacks-of-all-trades and Kings of none.

"Through this virus I have created the ultimate being. An organism that can transcend the limitations of the human body, maximize the attributes of certain areas, while eliminating the underperforming parts! I have created something that is the very essence of the evolutionary process. I cannot allow you to leave with that cure. At first, I wanted to see how my creation would perform against cognitive enemies, but now you have jeopardized my work, and I cannot abide by that.

"You may consider yourselves fortunate that you are going to bear witness to the creation of the next era in history!" Greg finished his speech with a flourish and jabbed a key on his keyboard. All-at-once, the monitors switched over from Greg to the parking lot outside. Thanatos was crossing the parking lot from the stairwell that led to the dock when it stopped suddenly.

Crying out, Thanatos bent over and fell to its knees. At first, only its chest began to grow, leaving the rest of its body disproportionately small. As the chest began to leak blood, Thanatos collapsed onto the ground and began convulsing. Its arms and legs flailed around limply until suddenly Thanatos went rigid. With one long roar, its right arm grew twice as long and thick, while its left seemed to deflate. George could only guess that it had given itself to allow the rest of the body to grow.

Thanatos stood on still widening legs and tested out its new arm. The claws, which had once been closer to fingers, were now at least three feet long and razor sharp. The monster roared once more, shaking its body back and forth while beating on its chest. The left arm flung around limply with the movements. Thanatos stopped and looked at the arm for a minute and moved its body. The left arm flopped around with the movement. With one quick motion, Thanatos dug the claws from its right arm into its left and ripped the arm off at the elbow.

With the detached limb impaled on its claw, Thanatos tossed the arm aside and jumped onto the university.

"Glorious. Simply glorious." Greg said as the monitor switched back to individual security cameras. There was a click on the speaker and he didn't continue.

"How are we supposed to kill that thing?" David asked.

"We're not." Mark said. "We just need to get the hell out of here before that thing finds us and we'll let the military handle that."

"I like that plan." Alyssa noted. "Let's go with the 'leaving that thing alone' plan and get our collective asses out of here."

"That's what I was trying to say." George added. "Jim, is there a radio among the buttons and knobs on that control panel?"

"I think I saw one, yeah. Why?" He asked.

"We need to broadcast to every available frequency our location and how many of us are here." George explained. "Whoever is coming needs to know where we are. I don't know what Peter told them."

"All right, what do you want to say?" Jim leaned back and motioned for George to speak into the microphone at the panel.

George looked at the others and then walked up to the microphone. "I, uh, hello? If anyone is out there coming to the university, the man you talked to has…passed away. There are still people here though! We are eight in total and we're waiting for any word of when you will arrive! Please respond."

"Not much of a public speaker are you?" Alyssa asked.

"I didn't see you stepping up." George arched an eyebrow.

"Sure, make fun of the cripple." Alyssa threw her hands up with an exaggerated motion.

"You'll be fine after a few months of bed rest." George retorted. He was going to continue explaining what she needed to do to recover when the centrifuge chimed twice and stopped moving. Next to the machine, a siphon began moving along a row of empty vials. One-by-one, it filled each vial until it had filled eight.

"For a minute there I was worried it wouldn't make enough." Jim said.

"Let's just hope that one vial each is enough to counteract the virus." Yoko reminded him.

George silently nodded with Yoko. He hadn't thought about the quantity of the cure either until it finished pouring. He only realized now that he had been so focused on curing the virus inside of him, that he hadn't thought about anything else. George wanted nothing else but to get out of the city and be rid of the virus forever.

Kevin walked over to the vials quickly and took two. He drew the cure into a needle and knelt down next to Alyssa.

Yes, after this, they would be rid of the virus.

Kevin slid the needle into Alyssa's arm and pushed the plunger down.

The virus would be gone.

Alyssa smiled and kissed him. Kevin took the needle out of her arm and put it on the table next to George. He took the other needle and repeated the process for himself.

Gone? How could he think it would be gone? It would still be out there. _They_ might be cured, but if they use the only known cure, then the rest of the world would be susceptible.

"Here, George, I filled a needle for you." Cindy handed him the needle with a smile. "We're going to be fine after this."

No, they wouldn't. The virus would still be alive. If they couldn't make more, then how could they stop another city from getting infected?

"Thanks." George took the needle from Cindy. He rolled it around in his fingers. It would be so easy to just inject himself. He would live, but many others would die. How could he even weigh his life against the rest of the world? There was no way he could make that decision. Cindy waited for him to inject himself, but got distracted by Alyssa.

"Holy shit!" Alyssa sat back. "That hurts. Oh God!"

Cindy looked over to Alyssa and George reacted. He slipped his needle into his bag and grabbed the used needle next to him. By the time Cindy looked back, George had poked himself with Alyssa's needle and was pulling it back out.

"That's normal Alyssa. Your body is trying to fight the virus. You're going to feel feverish for a while too. It will all subside." George explained. He placed the used needle back down on the table.

"Is that going to happen to all of us?" Yoko asked, looking at the empty needle in her hand.

"Probably, but Alyssa was the farthest along, so she is obviously going to feel the effects more potently than the rest of us."

"Then I hope no one has to feel these damn cramps I'm getting." Alyssa rubbed her stomach.

"You're sweating like crazy too. We need to get you some water." Kevin said as he felt her head.

"I've lasted this long, I can hold out for the rescue team." Alyssa waved him off.

"We can't wait that long, we don't even know if—" As if on cue, the radio interrupted Kevin.

"Is anyone there!?" The radio crackled. "God damnit, they've launched missiles, if anyone is there I need you to pick up now! We can't stay here much longer!"

Jim shot forward and pinned down the talk button. "We're here! In the university! Wait, did you say missiles?"

"Yes, shit, those pricks actually launched the missiles! If you're at the university, we'll swing by and pick you up. You need to be there in twenty minutes or we're leaving you. This city only has half-an-hour until it's wiped off the map. Be at the helipad behind the university."

"**ALERT ALL EMPLOYEES CODE RED EMERGENCY DETECTED ALL DOORS HAVE BEEN UNLOCKED PLEASE EXIT THE FACILITY. REPEAT ALL EMPLOYEES PLEASE EXIT THE FACILITY.**" The speakers crackled and the mechanical voice repeated its message.

The wall next to the centrifuge shook and then slid back. It rolled to the right and revealed a single doorway. With an audible click, the door unlocked. They had no idea where it led, but with the elevator out, they didn't have any other option.

"Come on, let's move!" Kevin yelled and slipped Alyssa's arm over his shoulder. David was the first one to the door and so he led them through.

Inside was a room they had become familiar with through the monitor. To their left was a large empty tube that had once housed Thanatos. Computers and other laboratory equipment lined all of the walls except one. On the opposite side of the room from where they stood, Greg sat at his desk with a pistol in his hand.

"Do you think this is the end? You think my creation would let missiles end its life? It will be beyond the city limits well before they hit, but not before eliminating you." Greg cackled. "Enjoy what is left of your life."

He waved them off. Quicker than George would have expected, Greg brought the pistol under his chin and squeezed the trigger. Blood sprayed out of the fresh hole in the top of his head and coated the wall behind him. Greg slumped back in his chair and gurgled in pain for a few seconds before actually dying.

"Holy shit…" Jim said.

"There's no time to stand and gawk." Mark said.

The only other door in the room was behind Greg's desk. George followed the others around the desk and to the door. Cindy stayed back, however, and George stopped to find out why.

"George, take a look at this." Something had caught Cindy's attention on Greg's desk. "You should see this."

"Cindy, there's no time right now." George said. "We have to go."

"Fine, you're right, but hold on to this." Cindy grabbed a notebook off Greg's desk and slid it into George's bag.

"Careful!" George reached for his bag, but Cindy was already finished and walking passed him.

George moved the notebook aside and made sure that the needle was still intact. Thankfully, it was, and so George ran through the door after Cindy. He ran out onto a metal walkway inside of a room that was almost entirely constructed of pipes. At the end of the walkway was a ladder.

George waited for Cindy to step off the ladder, and then started down himself. The others were waiting by the door on the opposite side of the room. Together, they went through and found themselves in the maintenance hallway next to the fuse panel Cindy had used to immobilize Thanatos. The door they came through was well disguised as a section of the wall with seams only visible under close scrutiny.

"Well, I'll be damned. I wish we had known about that earlier. It would have made things a hell of a lot easier." David said, examining the workmanship of the door.

"You can find out who made the door when we're out of here David." Mark reminded him as he held the door to the parking lot open and waved the others through.

David shrugged and held the hidden door open until George ran through, then followed the group out into the parking lot.

George had to shield his eyes from the sudden brightness as a helicopter came into view and shone its spotlight on them. The loud chopping of its propeller filled the once silent night.

"We can't land here. Go to the helipad behind the university!" The pilot said through the speakers on the helicopter. He turned the helicopter around and flew passed the large set of doors in the back of the parking lot.

"They're locked!" David yelled as he pulled on the handle to the doors. He moaned and kicked the doors.

"Look over there." Yoko said and pointed off to the side. There was a single, normal sized, door obviously made for a guard to go through to open the large doors. Yoko ran over to the door and pulled on the handle, it didn't move. "It's locked!"

From above them, Thanatos crashed down onto the center of the parking lot.

"I don't have enough ammo to deal with this shit!" Kevin shouted.

"Then help me break down the door!" David yelled back.

Yoko put up a hand to stop them, she pointed to George. "Give me the I.D. card."

George was confused at first, but then saw the card reader next to the door. He ignored her hand and instead took the card from his pocket and swiped it through the reader.

Thanatos tossed a car aside as it made a slow approach toward the survivors. It didn't look like it was worried about them getting away, or even worried about the impending missile attack. The elongated arm swung with Thanatos' stride, scraping against the ground and causing a low grating sound.

The reader buzzed and the knob turned when Yoko tried. She shoved the door open and ran out into a loading dock. A large 18 wheeled truck stood abandoned on the far side of the loading dock, its contents still only half loaded. Pallets of boxed materials were stacked in a queue waiting to be loaded onto the truck, forming a barrier of cargo that prevented them from running directly to the opposite side of the dock.

They had to go around the truck, but in the middle of the dock was a deep hole. It was at least three feet deep and wide enough to cover the area from the truck to the scaffolding directly across from it.

As they started toward the hole, the large set of double doors exploded into the dock, crashing into the bed of the truck and crushing the siding. Thanatos ran through the freshly created opening and cut off their path.

"Man, this bastard won't give up!" Jim yelled.

"We have to get around him." Cindy said.

"How do you suggest we do that?" Alyssa asked.

"Like this." Cindy ran to the left and began firing at Thanatos. She double backed through the hole Thanatos had created and unloaded an entire clip into the monster, who looked mostly unfazed, except for a hint of annoyance. It turned to Cindy and swatted at her. She jumped back and ducked under the swipe.

George ran after her and motioned the others toward the hole. "Go, we'll catch up!"

He took a couple potshots at Thanatos to much the same effect. Thanatos turned and swiped at him, but he was slightly faster. George took a few steps back and missed the attack.

Cindy had reloaded and started to fire again, distracting Thanatos long enough for George to put a fresh clip in his pistol. He glanced in his bag and noticed there were only two more in there beside the one in his gun.

"I can't keep this up much longer!" George yelled to Cindy.

"We won't have to." Cindy said.

George looked over to the others, everyone except Kevin and Alyssa were on the other side of the hole. They were having trouble because of Alyssa's injuries, but Mark was helping pull her up.

"They'll need another minute!" George said and started to fire so that Cindy could reload.

He moved and fired, choosing to move when he needed to dodge Thanatos and firing after each successful dodge. It was hard, and required all of his concentration, but Cindy was able to lessen the attacks by drawing Thanatos to her.

The two of them kept it up for another clip each until George saw that Kevin and Alyssa had made it up to the other side.

"They're clear, let's go!" George screamed over the sound of Cindy's gunshots. She ducked another swipe and ran to Thanatos' left, where his arm once was. George turned and started running for the hole.

He didn't get far when Cindy cried out.

She flew through the hole and back out onto the loading dock. Thanatos has gotten her with a back-handed swing. Cindy propped herself up on her elbow and scurried back on her hands and feet. Thanatos followed her onto the loading dock and stood above her.

"George!" Cindy pleaded.

George stopped moving and took aim, but he couldn't fire. His vision blurred, his muscles ached, and his stomach growled. He itched all over and his head swam in and out of focus. George fell to one knee and grabbed his head.

"George, help!" Cindy cried out, she moved back farther until she hit her back against one of the wheels of the truck.

Thanatos raised his arm up and pointed it at Cindy.

A cacophony of gunshots rang out. A quick burst of gunfire, a pause, and then another quick burst. The bullets hit Thanatos right in its heart, pushing the beast back.

"I'll hold it off, get over to the other side!" David screamed. George noticed that he was holding an assault rifle. He didn't know where David had gotten the weapon, but he didn't care either. George shook his head and forced himself onto his feet.

Cindy had regained her footing and ran along the truck to the hole. George followed her to the sound of the gunshots over his head. The hole was deeper than he had noticed. The lip rose well above his waist when he jumped in.

Mark knelt down on the other side of the hole and offered his hand to Cindy. George reached her as Mark was pulling her up and pushed her out of the hole. The gunfire stopped as Cindy crested the lip of the hole.

"I'm out and it's pissed!" David called from the top of the truck. He started running as Thanatos crashed into the truck. David slid off the side and rolled next to the cab.

"George, take my hand!" Mark ordered.

George grabbed Mark's hand and climbed the wall of dirt. As George stepped out of the hole, David crawled out from behind the truck's cab.

"Kevin is there another rifle in the boxes?" David asked.

"That was the only one. I don't even know what that one was doing there." Kevin replied.

There was a loud _thud_ behind them and David turned to the noise.

"It's on the truck!" He screamed.

George turned to look. Thanatos was charging at them, taking long, powerful strides, and closing the distance David helped create quickly.

"Get through the door!" Mark yelled. He pulled George away from the hole and toward a door on his right. It was a small rusted door that led out onto a set of creaky metal stairs, the kind that would be on a shoddily built fire escape. The stairwell swayed as Mark half-pulled and half-led George up the stairs just behind Cindy.

The cement wall that the door was crafted into shook as Thanatos smashed into it. For the most part, the cement held, but even after the first hit, the cement cracked. They would have to get to the helicopter before Thanatos broke through.

Kevin and Alyssa were the first to reach the top of the stairs, where they found the helicopter waiting. The co-pilot hung out of the opening of the helicopter and waved them on.

"Get your ass in gear, and let's go!" He yelled.

The cement wall gave out halfway between the stairs and the helicopter, and Thanatos didn't waste time with the stairs. In one swift jump, it cleared the stairs and landed in between the group and the helicopter.

"Shit! Pull up, pull up!" The co-pilot screamed. The pilot jerked back on the cyclic and rose back into the air. Thanatos swung back around with its arm, but missed the helicopter by inches. "We can't land with that thing there, take care of it and we'll pick you back up!"

"How the _hell_ are we supposed to do that?" Jim asked.

"Shoot the bastard!" David answered and pulled out his pistol. He squeezed off a few rounds, mostly hitting Thanatos in the chest, but missing a few shots too.

"Pick your shots! We don't have enough ammo to waste on misses!" Kevin chided him.

David growled and readjusted his aim. Thanatos didn't give him a chance. It swung its arm over its head in a long arch. David jumped back and narrowly missed getting hit as the claw smashed down on the ground in front of him, causing a cloud of debris to spray into the air as the ground caved under the blow.

In unison, they all began to fire at Thanatos, only stopping to reload or duck and weave out of the way of another of Thanatos' attacks. They moved in a semi-circle to avoid any friendly fire, but the shape devolved as Thanatos moved between them. After the first few seconds, it became confusing and on a few occasions, George heard a bullet zip passed him.

The pistols weren't doing anything! Even when David had found that rifle, all it did was keep Thanatos stunned for a few moments. George looked back in his bag and took out his last clip. He was determined to make all of the shots count.

One-by-one, the shots began to die out as everyone ran out of ammunition. George shot his clip slowly, hitting every time, but even as he squeezed off the last round, the monster stood undamaged.

"We can't kill it!" Alyssa bellowed. "We've come this far, and we're going to die because of this prick!?"

Alyssa threw her empty pistol at the monster, but the throw went wide. The monster turned to her, but didn't attack. It looked at each of them and then stood taller as if it knew they couldn't stop it. For a while, it stood there, eyeing each of them, deciding whom to kill first.

Mark followed Alyssa's example and threw his gun at the monster. It hit Thanatos in the back of the head. Thanatos turned around quickly and charged. Mark leapt out of the way and Thanatos only struck air. Mark raised his arms and protected his face from a back swing from Thanatos. The blow knocked Mark to the ground and back a few feet. He cried out as his arm hung at an awkward angle and bent in the wrong direction. Mark pushed backward with his legs and slid away from Thanatos.

George reached into his bag and grabbed the needle. If the needle would cure the virus, and the monster was empowered by the virus, then maybe the cure would kill Thanatos. He didn't want to use it because he needed to give it to someone before they left so that a lab could replicate it. However, if they didn't kill Thanatos, no one would be leaving. George was going to die anyway, but maybe he could at least give the rest of them a chance to live.

George took a deep breath and watched Thanatos. His best bet would be to inject it directly into the heart. He waited until Thanatos turned back around and started to pull the needle from his bag.

David didn't give him a chance. The larger man shoved George aside and sprinted at Thanatos with his folding knife brandished. David let out a deep bellow and vaulted onto Thanatos, plunging the blade deep into its heart.

The monster roared and fell to its knees. David tried to pull the knife out, but it was stuck. He pulled it down, instead, trying to move it around to cut the heart more. He was able to cut a large gash into its heart. However, his delay gave Thanatos the time it needed to wrap its hand around David's waist.

Thanatos stood up again and raised David up with it. David struggled and tried to pry the claws apart. With a mighty growl, Thanatos threw David back toward George.

He landed with a sickening _snap_.

"_DAVID_!" George screamed.

David bounced once and then stopped moving.

George called out his name again and ran up to him. David wasn't moving.

"David, hey, David, talk to me." George pleaded. He carefully rolled David over, taking care to hold his neck steady as he did.

David gasped and moaned. "My God, George, it hurts so much."

"It hurts?" George said hopefully. "Where?"

"Everywhere." David coughed out. Blood sprayed out with each cough. George's eyes went wide. He worried that David might have punctured a lung. David leaned over and spit out more blood. A few teeth fell out with the blood. George almost sighed with relief. It didn't mean David hadn't punctured a lung, but having another source for the blood was a good sign.

"Pain is good right now; it means you might not have hurt yourself that badly." George said.

He looked back at Thanatos, the monster was still standing in the same spot, trying desperately to get the knife out of its heart, but the one arm it had left was too long and ungainly to reach its heart.

"What are we going to do?" George asked.

"We have to kill that thing." David answered.

"We can't." George responded.

"We have to try." Yoko said.

The other six had gathered around, warily watching Thanatos struggle with the knife in its heart. George looked at her; she was holding Mark up with Cindy's help. He smiled, David had failed, but he thought back to the needle in his bag. If it worked, then the rest of them could get out before the missiles hit. George wouldn't have to worry about changing into one of those monsters; the missiles would kill him long before he had to endure the change.

He would have to strike soon, Thanatos was distracted, and he didn't know if he would get another chance. George stood up and looked down into his bag, and then back to Thanatos. His heart raced and pounded loudly in his ears. He could feel the blood rushing to his face. His whole body still ached and his head was throbbing. Even though every part of his body was fighting it, George took a step forward.

A small part of his mind reminded him he could still use the needle and not change. They would find another way to stop the monster. He could _live_, live with Cindy. He'd come to grow more than just fond of her throughout the night. It was tempting. He caressed the needle with his thumb. He still hadn't taken it out of the bag yet.

Another step forward and he heard Cindy call out to him.

It would be easy to just inject it into himself right now. Maybe they could keep attacking Thanatos' heart; it had obviously hurt it. That cost David pretty badly though. George still was unsure whether David had injured his spine.

Without any other ideas, he took another step forward.

Cindy screamed his name. George turned around to look at her.

"I'm sorry." He said. George looked back at Thanatos. It had stopped grabbing at its heart and looked at George. Thanatos was clearly in pain, but still more than capable of killing them all with a single blow.

"Shit." George heard Kevin say. "No you idiot!"

George ran at the monster, pulling the needle out as he ran. He stared intently at Thanatos' heart, as he would only have one shot to hit it. George's leg carried him swiftly across the helipad despite how painful each step was. He wanted to buckle and curl up into a ball, but this was their only choice.

He was only a quarter of the way to Thanatos when he felt arms wrap around his stomach and pull him from his feet. George heard a high pitched whistle as he crashed into the ground. The explosion that rocked the whole helipad knocked him back. He rolled along the ground, slamming painfully against the person under him.

When he finally stopped rolling, George's vision blurred and his ears rang. Groggily, he looked around and saw the others slowly regaining their feet. Behind him, Kevin groaned and rolled to his knees.

Thanatos stood at the center of the wreckage, half of its body completely destroyed. The entire left side of its chest was now just a mass of bloody bone and sinew surrounded by an organic mush that once was muscle. It fell to its knees once more, using the long arm to balance.

George looked around quickly, confused as to where the explosion had come from.

At the top of the stairwell, Rita stood, holding an empty rocket launcher that was too big for her to handle. It swayed as she held it. She had probably been aiming for the heart, but missed. She reached down into the bag they had with her when she went back to the police station and pulled out another rocket.

"Rita!" Kevin yelled.

"Marvin was gone, so I came back. Let's kill this thing and get out of here, alright!?" Rita knelt down with the rocket launcher and unscrewed the top. She tried to pin the launcher between her knees, but it was too big, and slipped out and rolled away. "Shit!"

Thanatos pushed itself up to its feet again.

Rita ran after the launcher and stopped it a few feet away.

"Look out!" Kevin screamed.

Rita looked up and rolled out of the way, as Thanatos clawed at her. She rose to her knees and pulled out her side arm. Rita got off a couple of rounds before having to move out of the way of another attack.

"One. Two. Three." Kevin counted the shots.

Rita repositioned and tried to get back to the launcher. Thanatos' movements were slowing and his attacks became less frequent.

Kevin stood up. "She needs help."

Four. Five. Six. Rita squeezed off another burst of shots.

"We have to get that launcher!" Kevin looked at George. He didn't even have a chance to help.

Seven. Eight. Nine. Rita moved closer to the launcher. Thanatos made another attempt to hit her, but its claw went wide and Thanatos stumbled back a pace. Rita bent down and pinned the launcher between her knees. With one hand holding the rocket and the other holding the pistol, Rita tried to slide the rocket into the launcher.

With a sudden burst of strength, Thanatos charged forward and ran its claw straight through Rita's stomach. She gurgled and spit up a mouthful of blood. Thanatos lifted her off the helipad and pulled her close.

"_RITA_!" Kevin cried.

"That's right, take a good look asshole." Rita said. She plunged the rocket into the hole that David had created. Rita held up her pistol. "I've still got one shot left."

Rita put the pistol up against the rocket and squeezed the trigger. A blindingly bright explosion shook the helipad and pushed Kevin into George. They flew back a few feet and hit the ground with Kevin on top of George.

Once again, they all clambered back to their feet except Kevin. George quickly looked over to where Kevin was staring. The only remains of Thanatos and Rita were the half burnt remnants of Thanatos' legs and a pulpy red smear on the helipad.

Kevin buried his face in his hands, but did not cry.

"We have to go." He said flatly. Kevin stood and walked over to Alyssa. He put her arm over his shoulder and started to walk over to where the helicopter was landing.

George looked at the needle in his hand and put it back in his bag. He then rushed over to David and knelt down next to him. "David I want you to wait here, I'm going to get whatever I can from the helicopter to make a stretcher."

"George, what can I do to help?" Cindy asked. She stepped away from Mark after letting Jim take her place. "What do you need?"

"There should be some medical supplies in the helicopter, and with any luck a stretcher. We need to get David on without moving him as much as possible." George spoke as he made his way over to the helicopter with Cindy by his side.

The co-pilot was once again hanging out the side of the helicopter directing everyone to their seat. "Hey, get him in here!" The man said, pointing to David.

"That's what we're trying to do, where are your medical supplies? I think there might be a neck injury." George informed him.

"Shit, okay, here take this." The co-pilot slid out a plastic stretcher from above the opening and handed it to George. He grabbed a medium sized canvas bag and gave that to Cindy. "We're going to start getting ready to take off. We have less than ten minutes before we have to leave."

George and Cindy wasted no time getting back to David and rolling him gently onto the stretcher. Inside the canvas back was a neck brace that George wrapped around David's neck. With George on one end and Cindy on the other, they ran David back to the helicopter. Kevin and the co-pilot took him from them and strapped him down on the helicopter.

Cindy made to get into the helicopter, but George caught her arm.

"Cindy, wait, I need to give you something." George said. He took the needle from his bag and put it in her hand. "You need to get this to a lab so they can analyze it, and hopefully make more."

"How did you get another one? I thought there were only eight." Cindy asked.

"There were. I…I can't come with you." George coughed to cover up the crack in his voice. He didn't want to show her how afraid he really was.

"George, what are you saying? Of course you can. We _have_ to leave." Cindy pulled on his jacket.

He took her hand in his and gently pulled it away from his jacket. "I can't leave Cindy, I would put you all in danger."

"You injected though. There's no danger."

"I didn't inject."

"I _saw_ you."

"That was Alyssa's empty needle. I didn't want you to know, you would have tried to stop me." George squeezed her hand.

"I can't leave you." She sounded determined. "I _won't_ leave you."

"You have to, it won't be so bad. You'll be safe and that's what's important to me."

"You won't be, and that's important to me." Cindy grabbed his jacket again. "Don't be stupid George; you don't have to do this."

"What happens if this virus spreads? What if it infects the world?" He asked.

"What do you think the missiles are for? They won't let it get out."

"It got out here, what if there's another outbreak?"

"What if, what if, what if? That's all I'm hearing, well, what if I lose you?"

George didn't have an answer for that, and so he said the only thing he could think of. "You'll move on."

"I've moved on enough. You _don't have to do this_." Cindy pleaded.

"If I don't, then no one will, I have to do this." George explained.

Cindy reached for his bag and began to say something, but the co-pilot cut her off.

"Hurry up, we need to go!" The co-pilot yelled from above them. "I don't care what I have to do to get you on this helicopter, but you are getting on now."

"You have to go Cindy." George began to push her toward the helicopter.

Cindy pulled away from him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She brushed her lips against his tentatively. For a moment, George forgot what he was doing, and then Cindy pressed her lips against his and kissed him, hard. He lost himself for what seemed like eternity, and he didn't care. All of his resolve melted and he wanted her in the worst way. His heart pounded and throbbed with excitement. All over his body, he felt pin pricks and goose bumps. It was as if the entire night was culminating into this. The banter back and forth, the flirting, everything they had been doing to keep sane throughout the night poured into that kiss, and he loved it. He pulled her in close and kissed her back. It was the first and only time he was going to be able to do this, so he made the most of it.

And then he felt Cindy stab him.

He almost didn't feel the pain at first, he was still reeling from the kiss, but it quickly became evident. He immediately knew what she was doing, and cursed himself for not realizing it before. George tried to get the needle out of his neck, but he felt the burning sensation Alyssa had described, as Cindy depressed the plunger. She had given up the only remaining sample of the cure just so he could live. George wanted to be angry, he tried to be angry, but instead he just stared at her. He couldn't help but smile.

"Dumbass, I said I wasn't going to leave you." Cindy whispered into his ear.

"What are we going to do now?" George asked.

Cindy rolled her eyes and hauled him onto the helicopter. The pilot pulled the helicopter up into the air, and soon they were flying high above the city. Going as fast as possible, the pilot made his way toward the city limits.

"Not that I'm not grateful, but you might have used up the only thing we had that could prevent another outbreak." George told Cindy.

"I tried to explain to you that you didn't need to do that." Cindy said and grabbed George's bag. She pushed around the contents of the bag until she found the notebook she had put in the bag. Cindy held the notebook out for George. "Take a look."

George took the notebook and flipped through. Even just scanning the pages he understood what it was. When she had tried to show it to him in Greg's office, George had assumed it was Greg's journal, or a manifesto of sorts. It wasn't Greg's book, but Peter's. There were graphs and charts, experimental data, procedures, and even a list of materials. All of his research into the cure in one book!

"Greg had said Peter came to him with all of his research." Cindy reminded him. "It was right there on the desk, so I took it. You're not the only one who thought ahead. I knew we would need it, and I even tried to tell you, but we were too busy to stop and examine it thoroughly."

"I'm regretting that we didn't now." George rubbed the spot on his neck where Cindy injected him.

"You deserve that." She pointed out. Then she leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "You deserve that too."

"We'll be out of the city in another minute, but we're cutting it close, so everyone needs to buckle up!" The co-pilot said.

George sat down next to David and clicked into his seat. He leaned down and held onto the stretcher. He was worried about it shifting around too much despite the numerous straps that were crisscrossing David's chest that immobilized the stretcher.

The explosions happened a minute later. It didn't happen exactly as George had seen it in the movies, but he recognized that movies couldn't even come close to the magnitude of a real nuclear explosion. He knew he saw the explosion first and the sound second, but it all became a blur when the force of the explosion rocked the helicopter.

Had the co-pilot not urged them to buckle in, George would have been thrown from the helicopter. He rose out of his seat as far as the buckle would allow him only to be slammed back down hard enough to bruise his tail bone. The helicopter shifted under him in every direction imaginable and he was pulled and pushed with it. Warning bells rang and lights flashed as the helicopter flew through the air without using its propellers.

Then, as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. It took a few moments for the pilot to correct the helicopter, but once he did, the turbulence subsided.

George looked back out onto the city in which he had once lived and realized with finality that it, like him, would never be the same.

**Epilogue**

After the events of that night, records showed that fewer than twenty people escaped the city. Most died of wounds sustained during the outbreak, and some had to be quarantined when they turned. Those who had turned were later executed when it was discovered that Peter's cure, later referred to as "Daylight," didn't reverse the change, but only prevented it from happening. Inoculations were administered throughout the country as soon as possible, but it was many months before even a majority of the population was inoculated.

Two months after the outbreak, a long and drawn out court case ensured that Umbrella would no longer be able to contract for the government. Furthermore, they were forced to pay out a large settlement to the government, which then was used to fund a trust for the families of lost ones, and more so for the remaining survivors.

**One Year Later**

George pushed the wheelchair along the dirt path. He was glad that he had been able to convince David to get an all-terrain model for the trip instead of the model that he used normally. The paths were overgrown and untraveled, so the wheels would have gotten stuck more often than they did.

Cindy held both George's and her bag and they made their way through the mountain trail and onto the peak above them. She and George had recently moved in to an apartment in Maine, where she was attending the University of Maine to finish her nursing degree. He, in turn, got a job working for one of the hospitals that the University owned.

David's injuries were not as bad as they could have been, but the doctors told him that there was only a small chance he would be able to walk again with proper rehabilitation. With George's help, David continues to attend daily rehab meetings at George's hospital and has made good progress.

"I think we're almost there." Yoko said, running up the trail to scout ahead.

"Hey, wait for the rest of us!" Alyssa chided her. She walked next to Kevin with a small limp; one the doctors told her would never go away. She fidgeted with the new wedding ring on her finger and took Kevin's hand. "I can fire you now, you know?"

Yoko slowed down. "That might scare me if I wasn't writing freelance."

"So how many other newspapers are you writing for now?" Alyssa asked.

"Point taken."

Together, they climbed to the top of the mountain trail and stopped at the edge of the drop. Before them were the remains of Raccoon City and the beginnings of the new city. In spite of living in separate parts of the country, they all kept in touch. So, when they had heard that construction started on rebuilding the city, they all knew they had to see it for themselves.

"I can't believe they are actually doing this." Mark said. He had retired to Pennsylvania and lived in a small rural gated community where he planned on living off his retirement pension and the settlement money for the rest of his life.

"I told you, and they're trying to do it in secret too!" Jim said. He was the one who had discovered the construction. He had used some of his money to start a security firm with Kevin. Jim went back to school to get a proper degree in information sciences, which he now uses for running all of the cameras and recording equipment for the firm.

"It's a good thing we have a couple of reporters here then." Kevin bumped Alyssa with his hip.

"I'm glad I've got a team of former cops behind you to keep me protected from all the heat this little story is going to bring." Alyssa replied.

"They have other work to do. You'll have to be content with just me watching you."

"I hope that's not all you're going to do." Alyssa giggled.

They sat and watched the city slowly coming to life once again before them as Alyssa and Yoko snapped pictures with expensive cameras. Life was finally starting to calm down enough for them to try and start their lives again.

George took Cindy's hand and watched some men and women climb on scaffolding as they pieced together the police station. He had mixed feelings about what had happened that night. It was a tragedy of course, but, he looked at Cindy, not everything that happened was bad.

"I can't believe we lost everything that night." Cindy said.

"I think we found something that night too." George said. He put his hand in his pocket and held the ring he had purchased the day before. "Something that will last us a lifetime."


End file.
